Democracy: Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on projects promoting democracy in each of the last three years.

Gareth Thomas: DFID's support to democracy programmes is part of our broader approach to good governance. One of the components of good governance is an open and transparent political system with strong political institutions. This means our democracy work includes support to civil society to improve their capacity to hold governments to account; initiatives to build accountability into our health and education programmes to improve Government responsiveness to poor people; and work to strengthen political systems more broadly, including popular participation in the decision-making process. The latter includes direct support to elections and parliaments.
	In total, DFID's direct bilateral spend on governance programmes was £212 million in 2004-05, £322 million in 2005-06 and £286 million in 2006-07. Within this DFID spent £14 million directly on democratic elections in 2004-5, £17.1 million in 2005-06 and £15.5 million in 2006-7. Over the next five years, our support to governance will include an additional £100 million for the governance and transparency fund.
	The aforementioned figures do not include our support to the UN, EU and other multilateral organisations some of which is used to fund governance and democracy promotion programmes. However, DFID does not hold details of what proportion of these contributions were used to assist with the promotion of democracy.
	Note that the figures for 2006-07 are provisional estimates only.

Humanitarian Aid: Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent reports he has received on the murder of aid workers in Sri Lanka; and what guidance his Department is making available for UK aid workers in Sri Lanka.

Gareth Thomas: We have received several representations from the British and Sri Lankan NGO communities about the murder of two Red Cross workers on 2 June and the deaths of 17 workers from a French NGO in August 2006. We have raised the issue of humanitarian security with the Sri Lankan Government repeatedly and pressed for the perpetrators of these appalling crimes to be brought to justice.
	The UK advises British nationals, including aid workers, against all travel to the north and east of Sri Lanka. Ultimately Aid Workers and the Agencies that employ them are responsible for their own security. Staff at the British High Commission in Colombo meet representatives of the British NGO community on a monthly basis to share information on security and other operational issues. Aid workers are also encouraged to register their presence in Sri Lanka with the British High Commission. Where appropriate, the FCO will support British Nationals who are caught up in conflict, civil unrest and natural catastrophes.

Iraq: Internally Displaced Persons

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk of 7 June 2007, official report, column 685W, on Iraq: internally displaced persons, what form he expects the Iraqi Government's lead role in supporting Iraqi refugees outside Iraq to take; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The most important thing that needs to happen in Iraq is an end to the spiralling violence responsible for the deteriorating humanitarian situation and increasing levels of displacement. The Government of Iraq has put dealing with security at the top of its agenda and we will continue to support them. Furthermore, it has primary responsibility to ensure the protection of its citizens.
	At the April UNHCR Conference in Geneva, the Government of Iraq made a commitment to take the lead in providing support and security for its citizens, including those who have fled the country. In the first phase, they pledged $25 million to finance the establishment of migration offices in Jordan and Syria. These offices will support vulnerable Iraqis and help alleviate the burden of the influx of refugees on host countries. We will continue to press them to step up their response to the situation and develop their policy on how best to provide assistance.

Mozambique: Health Services

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps to facilitate the provision of health care free at the point of access in  (a) Mozambique and  (b) China.

Gareth Thomas: It is for national governments to decide their own policies in relation to user fees in health. However, because of our own UK experience and that of developing countries, DFID is committed to helping countries that want to remove charges at the point of delivery. The recent White Paper commits DFID to help partner governments abolish user fees for basic health services and help them tackle other barriers to access, including discrimination against women.
	DFID is working with the Government of China to facilitate the provision of free (or substantially subsidised by the Government) primary health care. China is formulating a major health policy to address inequity in the health system, of which free primary health care for all is likely to be an important feature. Meanwhile various health insurance programmes for urban and rural residents will be improved to provide better financial risk protection and reduce out-of-pocket payments on in-patient services.
	DFID has supported China on rural and urban health and health policy capacity building since 1999. Our large and well designed pilots have provided evidence to Chinese policy makers on rural and urban health reform, which is now being used to inform the development of the new policies.
	In Mozambique, services are already formally free for Malaria, TB, HIV treatment, maternal health services and immunisation for children. The Government of Mozambique has already made a public commitment to look at the case for removing fees, at least for primary health care. DFID is now working closely with the Government of Mozambique to consider the practical implications of removing the remaining user fees. This includes: studying the expected implications for demand; considering how systems will need to be reinforced to support the change; and preventing illegal charging. If the Government of Mozambique makes a decision to abolish more fees, DFID will support this, including through our continued financial support to the sector.

Overseas Aid: Corruption

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what occasions and from whom the UK has sought the return of monies misappropriated from UK aid programmes.

Hilary Benn: DFID is committed to ensuring that its resources are used only for the purposes intended. The Department's Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy aims to ensure that resources lost through misappropriation are minimised, and that appropriate action is taken to recover such funds. A specialist Fraud Response Unit within DFID's internal audit function coordinates DFID's response to allegations of fraud and corruption, and provides support to management to strengthen systems and processes to prevent or detect future losses.
	Where a loss relates to activities which are being managed on DFID's behalf by an NGO, an international organisation or a similar partner with whom DFID has an ongoing relationship, the partner concerned will usually be required to absorb the loss and to complete delivery of the agreed development goals without additional DFID funding. Before agreeing to this course of action, DFID will first require adequate assurance that the weaknesses in the partner's systems which allowed the losses to occur have been addressed. In other cases, the Department's practice is normally to seek the repayment of the monies which have been misappropriated.
	Where DFID cannot obtain the necessary assurance that a partner's arrangements for preventing fraud and corruption have been strengthened, and hence that UK taxpayers' monies will be properly safeguarded, future funding may be withheld or the relationship with the partner may be terminated.
	The following table lists the cases, for the financial years 2004-05 to 2006-07 inclusive, where the UK has sought the return of monies misappropriated from UK aid programmes. This includes instances where there has been full or partial repayment to DFID of misappropriated funds, those where the partner organisation managing the activities on DFID's behalf has absorbed the losses itself, and those where no recovery could be achieved.
	
		
			   Location  Party from whom return was sought/circumstances of loss 
			 2004-05 Uganda Bank: Unidentified culprit cashed cheque claiming to be working for consultants. Funds recovered in full from bank. 
			 2004-05 The Gambia NGO: NGO suffered an internal fraud in The Gambia. Individuals were prosecuted and some funds returned. 
			 2004-05 Caribbean NGO: Misappropriation, including diversion of project salaries funded by DFID. Full amount recovered. 
			 2004-05 DR Congo International organisation: Financial irregularities within DFID-funded project. Audit undertaken by external auditor. Full funds recovered. 
			 2004-05 UK Private individual's estate: Pension still being claimed after staff member's death. Money refunded in full. 
			 2004-05 UK Credit card provider: Unauthorised use of credit card. Full refund made by card company 
			 2005-06 UK Staff member: Made false claim for payment of travel time. Recovered in full. 
			 2005-06 Rwanda Staff member: Theft of generators by DFID employee. Generators recovered, and employee dismissed. 
			 2005-06 Malawi Staff member: Cash received on project had not been banked. Staff member resigned and funds recovered in full. 
			 2005-06 Liberia Supplier: DFID contractor forging/stealing cheques. Company repaid the monies in full. 
			 2005-06 Southern Africa Staff members: Money stolen from office safe at project. Two staff dismissed and police notified. Funds recovered in full. 
			 2005-06 Kenya Contractor: Equipment misappropriated. Culprit absconded before police could act. No recovery possible. 
			 2005-06 Malawi NGO: NGO discovered that their PAYE contributions had been diverted to pay tax on the importation of cars. Court proceedings have been initiated but not concluded. Monies recovered in full. 
			 2006-07 Kenya NGO: Double billing of donors. Amounts recovered in full. 
			 2006-07 Kenya NGO: Procurement irregularities, with work being awarded to relatives at inflated costs. Full recovery. 
			 2006-07 Kenya NGO: Insecticide-treated nets were sold by staff in medical centres to be used as fishing nets. Some supplies were recovered, others written off. Police involved. 
			 2006-07 UK Private individual's estate: Pension still being claimed after staff member's death by a relative, who has since herself died. Some monies recovered from the estate and HMRC. 
			 2006-07 Cambodia International organisation: Cash/cheque fraud by an international organisation's employees. Some monies returned. 
			 2006-07 Somalia Local community: Misuse of funds on an Accountable Grant funded project. Community members found responsible and funds repaid in full. 
			 2006-07 Malawi NGO: Over-claiming of school fees by NGO staff member. Funds repaid in full. 
			 2006-07 Ghana Supplier: Private company had been using a phone number for which DFID paid the bills. Full recovery. 
			 2006-07 Sudan NGO: NGO identified a fraud on a DFID-funded project and has since repaid the loss in full. 
		
	
	During the same period, 2004-05 to 2006-07, DFID also had a smaller number of instances where misappropriation of UK funds could be proven but where effective recovery action was not practicable due to the particular circumstances of each case—for example, where the culprits could not be identified or subsequently absconded, or where the value of the loss was lower than the cost of any recovery action. For completeness, these cases are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Location  Circumstances of loss 
			 2004-05 UK Payments intercepted in the mail. 
			 2004-05 UK Staff member tried to re-sell DFID-funded travel tickets. 
			 2004-05 Guyana NGO worker took unauthorised allowances. 
			 2005-06 Iraq Over-claiming of project-related salaries. 
			 2005-06 Nigeria Cash theft. 
			 2005-06 Nepal Burglary. 
			 2005-06 Iraq Loss of satellite telephone. 
			 2005-06 Kenya Equipment purchased without proper authority. 
			 2006-07 Rwanda Unauthorised use of vehicle.

Aircraft Carriers: Procurement

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact on dockyards in the UK if the Government decides to collaborate with France in the construction of the proposed two new aircraft carriers for the UK;
	(2)  what talks have taken place with members of the aircraft carrier alliance on the involvement of France in the construction of the proposed two new aircraft carriers for the UK;
	(3)  what discussions there have been with trades unions about the involvement of France in the construction of the proposed two new aircraft carriers for the UK;

Adam Ingram: holding answer s  18 June 2007
	We have always stressed that co-operation with France through industry-to-industry links may offer potential benefits to both nations. This was covered most recently when my noble Friend the Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support, Lord Drayson met with the Trade Unions and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance Chief Executive last month. It has been agreed with France that for co-operation to work, it must deliver cost savings and must do so without delaying UK or French programmes.

Armed Forces: Pay

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed service personnel have received a tax free bonus for service in  (a) Iraq,  (b) Afghanistan and  (c) the Balkans since October 2006.

Derek Twigg: The Information broken down by operational theatre is not held within legacy service pay systems and the new Joint Personnel Administration system in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	As at 13 June 2007, some 46,333 armed forces personnel had received payment of the tax free Operational Allowance. This figure includes payments to Army personnel for more than one operational tour and excludes payments after 31 March 2007 to deceased, discharged and special forces personnel for all three services.

Defence: Procurement

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value is of orders for urgent operational requirements placed in the last 12 months; and if he will list those items of equipment costing over £250,000.

Adam Ingram: Between 1 June 2006 and 31 May 2007 the total value of approved Urgent Operational Requirements was some £810 million. As the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are still ongoing, much information regarding specific Urgent Operational Requirements remains operationally sensitive and is withheld as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of our armed forces.

Military Bases: Colchester

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many years the consortium awarded the private finance initiative for the Colchester garrison will have ownership of the land.

Derek Twigg: Under the terms of the Colchester garrison redevelopment contract RMPA Services PLC was granted a 150 year head lease over the land that forms the new garrison site. The Ministry of Defence retains overall ownership.

Project Al Yamamah

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funds have been held by the Defence Export Services Organisation in relation to the Al Yamamah defence contract since May 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: The financial arrangements of the Al Yamamah programme are confidential between the two Governments. I am withholding details as they would, or would be likely to prejudice international relations and harm the interests of the United Kingdom.

Project Al Yamamah

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will publish the annexes to the Al Yamamah contract which cover support services;
	(2)  what requirement was laid down in the Al Yamamah contract on BAE to inform Ministers of payments made under the support services annexes of the contract; and if he will list all payments reported to Ministers as having been made under those provisions showing  (a) the date,  (b) the purpose and  (c) the recipients of such payments.

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which Ministers in his Department have been informed of payments made under the support services annexes of the Al Yamamah contract since 1997;
	(2)  when Ministers in his Department were first informed of payments being made by BAE Systems under annexes on support services to the Al Yamamah contract;
	(3)  what mechanisms were in place in his Department for official authorisation of payments made under the support services annexes of the Al Yamamah contract by BAE Systems before 1 June 2007;
	(4)  when the last payment was made by BAE under the support services annexes of the Al Yamamah contract of which his Department was made aware; and what information he has on arrangements for any future payments.

Des Browne: holding answer s  19 June 2007
	 Agreements reached under the Al Yamamah programme are confidential between the two Governments. I am withholding details as they would, or would be likely to prejudice international relations and harm the interests of the United Kingdom.

Apprenticeships

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of students entering  (a) apprenticeships and  (b) advanced apprenticeships were already in employment in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: Data on apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships is collected on the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) individualised learner record (ILR). The work-based learning (WBL) ILR was collated for the first time in 2002/03 and figures are given from that time. The following table shows the number of learners starting advanced apprenticeships and apprenticeships each year who were in employment on the day before their training commenced as a percentage of all starts.
	
		
			   Learners in employment  
			   Number  Percentage  Total learners 
			  2002/03
			 Advanced Apprenticeship 38,110 57 67,120 
			 Apprenticeship 82,570 61 136,400 
			 
			  2003/04
			 Advanced Apprenticeship 38,510 68 56,960 
			 Apprenticeship 95,970 70 136,610 
			 
			  2004/05
			 Advanced Apprenticeship 36,020 67 53,920 
			 Apprenticeship 93,590 69 135,120 
			 
			  2005/06
			 Advanced Apprenticeship 39,400 76 52,130 
			 Apprenticeship 88,450 72 122,850 
			  Note: Learners who are not employed on the day before their apprenticeship starts could enter as an employed status apprentice and their employment status then changes because of the Apprenticeship programme.

Classroom Assistants

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many learning support assistants there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Tables have been placed in the House Libraries showing the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained primary and secondary schools by local authority in each year from January 1997 to 2006 the latest information available.

Degrees: Gender

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of  (a) women and  (b) men did not complete their degree in each of the last five years, broken down by the number of UCAS points on university entry.

Bill Rammell: Projected non-completion rates are released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) each year within the performance indicators in higher education publication.
	The latest available non-completion projections are shown in table 1.
	
		
			  Table 1:Proportion of UK-domiciled entrants to full-time first degree courses in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution: 
			   Percentage 
			 1999-2000 15.9 
			 2000-01 15.0 
			 2001-02 14.1 
			 2002-03 14.4 
			 2003-04 14.9 
			  Source: "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published by HESA 
		
	
	The 2004-05 figure will be released by HESA on 19th July 2007. These non-completion rates are not available broken down by gender or entry qualification. Drop-out is more likely to occur during the first year of higher education. The performance indicators also include non-continuation rates, which show the proportion of entrants who are not detected in higher education after their first year. The latest available non-continuation rates are shown in table 2.
	
		
			  Table 2: Proportion of UK-domiciled young entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK HEIs not continuing in higher education after their first year 
			   Percentage 
			 1999-2000 7.8 
			 2000-01 7.1 
			 2001-02 7.3 
			 2002-03 7.8 
			 2003-04 7.7 
			  Source: "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published by HESA 
		
	
	The 2004-05 figure will be released by HESA on 19 July 2007. The 2002-03 and 2003-04 non-continuation rates are available broken down by entry qualification, as shown in table 3.
	
		
			  Table 3: Percentage of UK-domiciled young entrants to full-time first degrees in UK HEIs in 2002-03 and 2003-04 not continuing in higher education after their first year 
			  Entry qualification Categories  Tariff points  Entrants 2002-03  Entrants 2003-04 
			 A-levels or Highers: Unknown 11.3 12.6 
			  Up to 200 11.7 11.9 
			  201 to 290 7.9 8.1 
			  291 to 380 4.9 5.3 
			  Above 380 2.6 2.8 
			 Other qualifications — 11.4 11.6 
			 All qualifications — 7.8 7.7 
			  Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) 
		
	
	The 2003-04 non-continuation rate is available broken down by gender, as shown in table 4.
	
		
			  Table 4: Percentage of UK-domiciled young entrants to full-time first degrees in UK HEIs in 2003-04 not continuing in higher education after their first year 
			   Rate  Benchmark 
			 Female 6.7 7.3 
			 Male 8.8 8.1 
			 Total 7.7 — 
			  Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)

Every Child Counts Initiative

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2007,  Official Report, column 365W, on the every child counts initiative, how much has been spent on the Making Good Progress pilot.

Jim Knight: Funding of £20 million for implementation of the Making Good Progress pilot in the first academic year, 2007/08, was announced on 6 June along with details of participating pilot schools. There will be further funding for implementation in the second academic year which will be settled through the Comprehensive Spending Review process.

Every Child Counts Initiative

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2007,  Official Report, column 365W, on the Every Child Counts initiative, what programmes his Department has run since 1997 prior to the two programmes for providing one-to-one tuition in  (a) English and  (b) mathematics.

Jim Knight: The Department is implementing the 'Every Child a Reader' (ECAR) programme. We are in the third year of a three-year pilot which is helping over 5,000 six-year-olds with significant literacy difficulties to learn to read. It does this by placing highly skilled reading recovery teachers in schools to provide intensive one-to-one or small group support to children most in need.
	As a result, we have announced that ECAR will be rolled out nationally from 2008-09, benefiting 30,000 children a year by 2011.
	In mathematics, intervention 'Springboard materials' have been used for a number of years to support those children who have been identified as working just below age-related expectations and who, with support, might catch-up with their peers. Although they are more often used in group work, they can be used on a one-to-one basis. Wave three intervention materials have more often been used for individuals as well as small groups. Both these materials offer teachers a tracking chart to audit the child's attainment and to identify where to pitch the support.
	The Department is also currently providing funding for reading mentors. We provide funding to Volunteer Reading Help (VRH); a charitable organisation which recruits, trains and places volunteers to give one-to-one help twice a week to children aged 6 to 11-years who find reading a challenge. Currently VRH has around 2,000 volunteer readers working with around 5,000 children.

GCSE: Languages

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in Shropshire were entered for a modern language at GCSE in each year from 2001 to 2006.

Jim Knight: The number of 15-year-olds entered for a modern language GCSE in Shropshire for each year from 2001 to 2006 is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of pupils entered for a modern foreign language in Shropshire 
			 2001 2549 
			 2002 2428 
			 2003 2553 
			 2004 2423 
			 2005 2170 
			 2006(1) (1)1821 
			 (1 )2006 data is based on amended Key Stage 4 data.

Languages: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which foreign languages were studied by pupils in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex for (i) GCSE, (ii) A/S-Level and (iii) A-Level in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Personal, Social and Health Education

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the evidential basis was for the statement made by Ofsted in its report Time for Change? Personal, Social and Health Education that  (a) research suggests that education that promotes abstinence but withholds information about contraception can place young people at higher risk and  (b) school nurses provide a particularly valuable service in providing emergency hormonal contraception to pupils; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 13 June 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked what the evidential basis was for the statements made by Ofsted in its report, "Time for Change? Personal, Social and Health Education (HMI 070049)", that (A) research suggests that education that promotes abstinence, but withholds information about contraception, can place young people at higher risk; and (B) school nurses are providing a valuable service by offering emergency hormonal contraception to pupils.
	Our report states that 'there is no evidence, however, that 'abstinence-only' education reduces teenage pregnancy or improves sexual health. There is also no evidence to support claims that teaching about contraception leads to increased sexual activity. Research suggests that education and strategies that promote abstinence but withhold information about contraception can place young people at a higher risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).' There has been widespread international research in this area, including three pieces of research completed by the National Children's Bureau:
	1. Blake, S and Frances, G (2001) Just Say No to Abstinence Education. London
	2. Abstinence-only Education, Sex Education Forum, briefing May 2004
	3. Swann, C., Bowe, K. MCCormick, G. and Kosmin, M. (2003) Teenage Pregnancy and parenthood: a review of reviews. Evidence briefing. London: Health development Agency. www.hda.nhs.uk/evidence
	We found this research persuasive because it reflected our discussions with pupils in 350 inspections who said they valued clear sex and relationship education in school.
	Our report states that 'school nurses can also provide a valuable service, particularly in terms of providing emergency hormonal contraception and advising on other forms of contraception'. This is in line with non-statutory guidance published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The DfES publication "Teenage Pregnancy Next Steps: Guidance for Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts on Effective Delivery of Local Strategies" (2006) sets out the key findings from 'deep dive' reviews carried out by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit to identify factors responsible for the significant variation in performance between local areas, including between areas that are statistically similar. The guidance states:
	'Provision of young people focused contraception/sexual health services, trusted by teenagers and well known by professionals working with them.' This was the factor most commonly cited as having the biggest impact on conception rate reductions in the high performing areas. Features of successful services reflected the "Best practice guidance on the provision of effective contraception and advice services for young people" issued by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit in 2000: easy accessibility in the right location with opening hours convenient to young people; provision of the full range of contraceptive methods, including long acting methods; a strong focus on sexual health promotion (as well as reactive services) through, for example, outreach work in schools, work with professionals to improve their ability to engage with young people on sexual health issues; and through highly visible publicity. Effective services also had a strong focus on meeting the specific needs of young men. All high-performing areas also had condom distribution schemes involving a wide range of local agencies and/or access to emergency contraception in non-clinical settings.
	Ofsted's own discussions with young people suggest they want and trust services in schools and welcome and recognise the commitment that schools show to meeting their wider health needs.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Pupils: Eastern Region

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total recurrent funding per pupil was in real terms in  (a) Suffolk,  (b) Bedfordshire,  (c) Cambridgeshire,  (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and  (f) Norfolk in each year from 1998-99 to 2007-08.

Jim Knight: The revenue funding figures per pupil aged 3 to 19 for Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk for years 1998-99 to 2005-06 are provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Local  a uthority  1998- 99  1999- 00  2000- 01  2001- 02  2002- 03  2003- 04  2004- 05  2005- 06 
			 Bedfordshire 2,990 3,110 3,380 3,560 3,670 3,720 3,860 4,060 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,860 3,010 3,210 3,330 3,410 3,580 3,730 3,920 
			 Essex 3,080 3,190 3,420 3,580 3,680 3,770 3,920 4,080 
			 Hertfordshire 3,080 3,180 3,410 3,560 3,670 3,730 3,880 4,030 
			 Norfolk 2,980 3,110 3,340 3,500 3,600 3,680 3,830 4,020 
			 Suffolk 2,900 3,010 3,230 3,370 3,470 3,540 3,690 3,860 
			  Notes:  1. Price Base: Real terms at 2005-06 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 27.09.06  2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of Standard Spending Assessment / Education Formula Spending (EFS) settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EFS and LSC.  3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DFES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to pupils aged 3 to 19 and exclude Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level.  4. The pupil numbers used to convert m figures to per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC 3 year old maintained pupils and estimated 3 to 4 year olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.  5. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  6. Status: Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal. 
		
	
	The revenue per pupil figures shown in the table below are taken from the new dedicated schools grant (DSG) and are in cash terms. They are not comparable with those for the years 1997-98 to 2005-06 because the introduction of the DSG in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how local authorities are funded. The DSG is based largely on an authority's previous spending.
	The 1997-98 to 2005-06 figures are based on education formula spending (EPS) which formed the education part of the local government finance settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. In addition, the DSG has a different coverage to EFS. EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG's local government finance settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. Consequently, there is a break in the Department's time series as the two sets of data are not comparable. An alternative time series is currently under development.
	To provide figures for 2006-07 DSG, the Department have isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06. There are other grants that support the schools budget, these are not included in the DSG figures provided. The figures are for all funded pupils aged 3-15.
	
		
			  Local authority  2005-06 Baseline  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Bedfordshire 3,188 3,407 3,633 
			 Cambridgeshire 3,193 3,407 3,623 
			 Essex 3,300 3,524 3,752 
			 Hertfordshire 3,294 3,507 3,730 
			 Norfolk 3,208 3,423 3,648 
			 Suffolk 3,160 3,372 3,591 
			  Notes: 1. The revenue funding per pupil figures only run to 2005-06 because the Department cannot provide a consistent time series beyond that year as the introduction of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how Local Authorities are funded. The 1998-99 to 2005-06 figures are based on Education Formula Spending (EPS) which formed the education part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. In 2006-07 funding for schools changed with the introduction of the DSG which is based largely on an authority's previous spending. 2. In addition, DSG has a different coverage to EFS: EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG's Local Government Finance Settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. This means that there is a break in the Department's time series as the two sets of data are not comparable, an alternative time series is currently under development. 3. To provide a comparison for 2006-07 DSG, the Department have isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06; as described above this does not represent the totality of 'education' funding in that year. There are other grants that support the schools budget, these are not included in the provided DSG figures.

Pupils: Languages

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of children in  (a) Somerset and  (b) Taunton constituency have English as a second language; and what funding has been made available for individual schools in each area to support those children in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The available information is given in the following table.
	The revenue funding that local authorities allocate to their schools is a matter for local authorities to decide locally through their own local funding formulae (subject to satisfying the minimum funding guarantee for schools from 2004-05 onwards). According to their Section 52 Budget Statements, Somerset LA's local funding formula does not allocate any funding to schools via their individual school budget share specifically on the basis of having pupils for which English is a second language attending the school.
	However, local authorities do receive additional funding from the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG). EMAG is intended to help local authorities narrow achievement gaps for those minority ethnic groups who are underachieving and to meet particular needs of pupils for whom English is an additional language. It is distributed to local authorities by formula which includes the number of EAL pupils in each LA. For this year, Somerset LA will receive an EMAG totalling £37,585, with locally determined formulae devolving at least 85 per cent. of this to schools. The grant is worth £179 million nationally in 2007-08.
	
		
			  Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number and percentage of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than english( 2) , as at January each year 2003 to 2007(provisional) 
			   Somerset local authority area  Taunton parliamentary constituency  England( 4) 
			   Number of pupils( 2)  Number of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English  Percentage of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English( 3)  Number of pupils( 2)  Number of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English  Percentage of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English( 3)  Number of pupils( 2)  Number of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English  Percentage of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English( 3) 
			 2003 64,968 407 0.6 13,444 93 0.7 6,779,930 657,300 9.7 
			 2004 65,416 473 0.7 13,493 110 0.8 6,752,670 669,480 9.9 
			 2005 65,103 600 0.9 13,468 136 1.0 6,711,420 694,470 10.3 
			 2006 64,366 830 1.3 13,265 197 1.5 6,655,620 734,550 11.0 
			 2007(5) 63,158 1,093 1.7 13,034 240 1.8 6,574,560 789,790 12.0 
			 (1 )Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Excludes dually registered pupils. (3 )The number of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils of compulsory school age and above. (4 )Figures for England have been rounded to the nearest 10. (5 )Provisional figures.  Source: School Census

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the average education funding was per pupil in West Lancashire in each year since 1997, broken down by age group;
	(2)  what the level of funding was per pupil in West Lancashire constituency in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Jim Knight: The West Lancashire constituency falls within the local authority of Lancashire and the information supplied applies to all of Lancashire. The revenue funding figures per pupil aged three to 10, 11-15 and three to 19 for Lancashire for years 1997-98 to 2005-06 are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Primary ( 3  to 10-year-olds)  Secondary (11 to 15-year-olds)  Total ( 3  to 19-year olds) 
			 1997-98 2,340 3,250 2,860 
			 1998-99 2,460 3,320 2,930 
			 1999-2000 2,630 3,440 3,070 
			 2000-01 2,870 3,710 3,320 
			 2001-02 3,030 3,880 3,470 
			 2002-03 3,090 3,980 3,560 
			 2003-04 3,250 3,990 3,640 
			 2004-05 3,360 4,180 3,790 
			 2005-06 3,570 4,390 4,000 
			  Notes: 1. Price base: Real terms at 2005-06 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 27 September 2006. 2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of standard spending assessment/education formula spending (EFS) settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EFS and LSC. 3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged three to 19 and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to £ per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC. 4. Three-year-old maintained pupils and estimated three to four-year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers. 5. Rounding—figures are rounded to the nearest £10. 6. Status—some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal. 7. 1997-98 figures for authorities subject to local government reorganisation in that year have been estimated, pro-rata to their post LGR figures. 
		
	
	The revenue per pupil figures shown in the following table are taken from the new dedicated schools grant (DSG) and are in cash terms. They are not comparable with those for the years 1997-98 to 2005-06 because the introduction of the DSG in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how local authorities are funded. The DSG is based largely on an authority's previous spending.
	The 1997-98 to 2005-06 figures are based on education formula spending (EPS) which formed the education part of the local government finance settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. In addition, the DSG has a different coverage to EFS. EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG's local government finance settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. Consequently, there is a break in the Department's time series as the two sets of data are not comparable. An alternative time series is currently under development.
	To provide a comparison for 2006-07 DSG, the Department have isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06; as described above this does not represent the totality of 'education' funding in that year. There are other grants that support the schools budget, these are not included in the provided DSG figures. As the DSG is just a mechanism for distributing funding there is not a primary/secondary split available.
	The figures are for all funded pupils aged three to 15 years.
	
		
			   £ 
			 DSG 2005-06 (Baseline) 3,317 
			 DSG 2006-07 3,536 
			 DSG 2007-08 3,765 
			  Notes: 1. The revenue funding per pupil figures only run to 2005-06 because we cannot provide a consistent time series beyond that year as the introduction of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how local authorities are funded. The 1997-98 to 2005-06 figures are based on education formula spending (EPS) which formed the education part of the local government finance settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. In 2006-07 funding for schools changed with the introduction of the DSG which is based largely on an authority's previous spending. 2. In addition, DSG has a different coverage to EFS: EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG's local government finance settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. This means we have a break in our time series as the two sets of data are not comparable, an alternative time series is currently under development. 3. To provide a comparison for 2006-07 DSG, we have isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06; as described above this does not represent the totality of 'education' funding in that year. There are other grants that support the schools budget, these are not included in the provided DSG figures.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average education funding was per pupil, broken down by age group, in  (a) Cornwall,  (b) the South West,  (c) England and  (d) the UK in each year since 1979.

Jim Knight: The revenue funding figures per pupil aged three to 10 and 11-15 for Cornwall, the South West and England for years 1997-98 to 2005-06 are provided in the tables below. Comparable figures are not available for 1979-80 to 1996-97. Figures are not available at UK level.
	
		
			  Primary (3 to 10-year-olds) 
			   Cornwall  South West  England 
			 1997-98 2,310 2,390 2,480 
			 1998-99 2,510 2,470 2,580 
			 1999-2000 2,680 2,620 2,750 
			 2000-01 2,900 2,830 2,990 
			 2001-02 3,070 2,970 3,160 
			 2002-03 3,130 3,030 3,250 
			 2003-04 3,300 3,200 3,450 
			 2004-05 3,370 3,280 3,550 
			 2005-06 3,570 3,480 3,770 
		
	
	
		
			  Secondary (11 to 15-year-olds) 
			   Cornwall  South West  England 
			 1997-98 3,310 3,200 3,390 
			 1998-99 3,380 3,280 3,470 
			 1999-2000 3,490 3,390 3,610 
			 2000-01 3,740 3,650 3,900 
			 2001-02 3,900 3,800 4,110 
			 2002-03 4,000 3,880 4,210 
			 2003-04 3,950 3,950 4,280 
			 2004-05 4,120 4,110 4,450 
			 2005-06 4,300 4,290 4,640 
			  Notes: 1. Price Base: Real terms at 2005-06 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 27 September 2006. 2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of standard spending assessment/education formula spending (EFS) settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EFS. 3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DFES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged 3-10 and 11-15 and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LA level. 4. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to £ per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC three-year-old maintained pupils and estimated three to four-year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers. 5. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest £10. 6. Status: Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal. 
		
	
	The figures shown in the following table are taken from the new Dedicated Schools Grant and are in cash terms. They are not comparable with those for the earlier years. The DSG is a mechanism for distributing funding and does not include a primary/secondary split. The figures are for all funded pupils aged three to 15. The Department will be announcing DSG figures for 2007-08 shortly.
	
		
			   2005-06 baseline  2006-07 
			 Cornwall 3,150 3,362 
			 South West 3,196 3,411 
			 England 3,411 3,643 
			  Notes: 1. The revenue funding per pupil figures only run to 2005-06 because it is not possible to provide a consistent time series beyond that year as the introduction of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how local authorities are funded. The 1997-98 to 2005-06 figures are based on education formula spending (EPS) which formed the education part of the local government finance settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. In 2006-07 funding for schools changed with the introduction of the DSG which is based largely on an authority's previous spending. 2. The DSG has a different coverage to EFS: EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG's Local Government Finance Settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. This means we have a break in our time series as the two sets of data are not comparable, an alternative time series is currently under development. 3. To provide a comparison for 2006-07 DSG, we have isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06; as described above this does not represent the totality of 'education' funding in that year. There are other grants that support the schools budget, these are not included in the provided DSG figures.

Qualifications: Greater London

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many pupils obtained  (a) no,  (b) one,  (c) two,  (d) three and  (e) four GCSEs at grades A*-C in English in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each London borough in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many pupils obtained  (a) five,  (b) six,  (c) seven,  (d) eight and  (e) nine GCSEs at grades A* to C including English in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each London borough in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Schools: Census

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the January 2007 schools census data to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 19 June 2007
	Provisional data from the January 2007 census was published on 16 April 2007 in the Statistical First Release on the Department's website:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000726/index.shtml
	Final data will be published in September 2007. The Secretary of State is not expected to make a statement. Final data on special educational needs (also taken from the census) is published on 26 June.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were excluded from school for violent conduct in each local education authority in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The available information has been placed in the Library.
	The Department does not collect data on exclusions for violent conduct. We do have information on exclusions where the reason cited is 'physical assault against an adult' or 'physical assault against a pupil' and this is set out in tables which have been placed in the Library. Further information on reasons for exclusion is contained in SFR 24/2006.
	Only two years of data relating to the reason for exclusion are currently available. The first year for which information on the reason for exclusion is available relates to the 2003-04 academic year. Exclusions data for 2004-05 academic year were published in June 2006. Data for the 2005-06 academic year is scheduled for publication on 26 June, 2007.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many pupil-on-pupil assaults there have been in  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in each local education authority in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school teachers and teaching assistants have been assaulted in the classroom more than once in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The number of incidents of assaults towards staff and pupils in schools is not collected centrally.
	From the academic year 2003/04, information is available on the reasons for pupil exclusions. These reasons include 'physical assault against a pupil' and 'physical assault against an adult'.
	The tables provide a breakdown of the number of pupils who have been excluded for a fixed period or permanently from maintained primary and secondary schools for physical assault against a pupil or an adult.
	Local authority level tables showing the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions by reason have been placed in the Library.
	
		
			  Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number and percentage of fixed period exclusions for physical assault against a pupil or an adult2003/04 and 2004/05, England 
			   Maintained primary  Maintained secondary 
			   Physical assault against a pupil  Physical assault against an adult  Physical assault against a pupil  Physical assault against an adult 
			   Number  Percentage( 2)  Number  Percentage( 2)  Number  Percentage( 2)  Number  Percentage( 2) 
			 2003/04 10,890 26.4 5,190 12.6 55,440 19.2 8,110 2.8 
			 2004/05 11,950 27.3 5,960 13.6 65,790 20.0 9,490 2.9 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Number of fixed period exclusions by reason expressed as a percentage of the total number of fixed period exclusions.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10  Source: Termly Exclusions Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number and percentage of permanent exclusions for physical assault against a pupil or an adult( 2 ) 2003/04 and 2004/05, England 
			   Maintained primary  Maintained secondary 
			   Physical assault against a pupil  Physical assault against an adult  Physical assault against a pupil  Physical assault against an adult 
			   Number  Percentage( 3)  Number  Percentage( 3)  Number  Percentage( 3)  Number  Percentage( 3) 
			 2003/04 290 22.7 290 22.9 1,380 16.6 820 9.9 
			 2004/05 250 22.6 290 26.3 1,500 18.6 900 11.1 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) The distribution of exclusions by reason has been derived from the Termly Exclusions Survey data and applied to the number of permanent exclusions as confirmed by local authorities as part of the school census checking exercise. (3) Number of permanent exclusions by reason expressed as a percentage of the total number of permanent exclusions.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census and Termly Exclusions Survey

Schools: Middlesbrough

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school places in Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland were not filled in 2006-07.

Jim Knight: The latest available data we have on the number of unfilled school places relates to January 2006, when there were 1,042 unfilled primary school places and 179 unfilled secondary school places in Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland.

Teaching Methods

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage place-based learning.

Phil Hope: There are two major areas of workplace training supported by Government to achieve increase of employer engagement in training. Firstly, the number of young people participating in apprenticeships is at a record level with more than a quarter of a million now in learning involving 130,000 employers across 80 sectors. Secondly, from August 2006, "Train to Gain" was rolled out nationally. It is a new service to help businesses get the training they need to succeed including offering free training for low skilled employees. It offers employers impartial advice and easy access to quality training, matching training needs with training providers and ensuring that training is delivered to meet employers' needs. In its first year it has engaged more than 40,000 employers and over 150,000 learners in learning.
	Both these approaches follow a structured training programme leading to qualifications with learning in the workplace being a key factor.
	To further encourage training, the Government launched the "Skills Pledge" on 14 June. The Skills Pledge—open to all employers—is a voluntary public commitment by the leadership of an organisation to ensure that all staff are skilled, competent and able to make a full contribution to the success of that organisation.

Vocational Training

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many individuals in each region are undertaking training as part of the Train to Gain scheme in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: holding answer 14 June 2007
	Train to Gain is an ongoing service and as such performance is updated on a regular basis. Detailed operational information is not held centrally by the Department but is collected by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC); Mark Haysom as the LSC chief executive has written directly to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Rob Wye dated, 21 June 2007:
	I am writing in response to your recent parliamentary question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, about how many individuals in each region are undertaking training as part of the Train to Gain scheme in 2007-08? I am writing on behalf of Mark Haysom as he is on annual leave.
	In the period April 2006 - March 2007, the regional breakdown of Train to Gain learners was as follows
	
		
			   Number 
			 East of England 9,500 
			 East Midlands 10,440 
			 London 8,340 
			 North East 10,690 
			 North West 21,990 
			 South East 11,640 
			 Southwest 9,120 
			 West Midlands 17,510 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 16,370

Vocational Training

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualifications have been awarded under train to gain, broken down by  (a) sector and  (b) (i) level and (ii) year awarded.

Phil Hope: The train to gain programme commenced in select regions from April 2006. A full rollout of train to gain commenced from August 2006.
	To date 38,760 learners have succeeded in gaining their qualifications:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Skills for Life achievements 3,920 
			 Level 2 achievements 32,800 
			 Level 3 achievements. 2,040 
			  Source: LSC Management Information 
		
	
	The LSC is planning to report on train to gain success rates, including sector breakdowns, in the 2006-07 learner outcomes statistical first release: Further education and work-based learning for young people—learner outcomes in England, which is expected to be published in April 2008.

Departments: Aviation

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many flights to overseas destinations were taken by  (a) civil servants and  (b) Ministers in her Department in each of the last three calendar years; and what the total cost of such flights was.

Hilary Armstrong: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis, a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the "Civil Service Management Code", the "Ministerial Code" and "Travel by Ministers".

Departments: Foreign Relations

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many memoranda of understanding are in force as a result of agreements with foreign governments entered into by Ministers in his Department; and what executive actions each entails.

John Prescott: My Department has not agreed any memoranda of understanding with foreign governments.

Departments: Official Residences

Theresa May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the official ministerial residences allocated to him; and what the total annual cost is of running each.

John Prescott: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to her by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 June 2007,  Official Report , column 1263W, and to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) by my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, North and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Cabinet Office (Edward Miliband) on 25 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1637W.

Government Departments: Health

Peter Bone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent steps he has taken to improve the coordination of the work of Government Departments on health matters.

John Prescott: I am Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Public Health (DA(PH)). Its terms of reference are to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of the Government's policies to improve public health and reduce health inequalities.
	Co-ordination across Government has been necessary to address a range of public health issues, including reducing smoking rates, tackling obesity, reducing teenage pregnancy rates, promoting sport and physical activity, developing Healthy Schools, and tackling drug and alcohol abuse and misuse. Owing to these developments, our reform programme and the fact that 10 years of economic prosperity, we have been able to treble the health budget in cash terms between 1996-97 and 2007-08. This has allowed us to employ over 79,000 more nurses and over 36,000 more doctors, to significantly reduce waiting lists (the average wait for inpatient treatment is now 6.4 weeks) and to regenerate the NHS estate (with 150 new hospitals open, under construction or in procurement).

Departments: Manpower

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials work in his Department.

Paul Goggins: As at 1 June 2007 the Northern Ireland Office employed 2,172 officials, this figure includes non-uniformed staff in the Northern Ireland prison service, staff within Youth Justice Agency, Compensation Agency and Forensic Science Northern Ireland.

Departments: Pay

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in 2006-07; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The information set out as follows comprises bonuses paid under the special bonus scheme, and the performance arrangements for all NIO staff at senior civil service level and below. Performance bonuses are paid subsequent to the reporting year. Bonuses relating to the 2005-06 reporting year were paid in 2006 and were as follows:
	Number of staff receiving a bonus: 1,024
	Proportion of total work force: 49.2 per cent.
	Total amount of bonuses £686,425
	Largest single payment: £11,000
	Statistics are not yet available for the 2006-07 reporting year, as decisions on performance are currently being taken.
	All of these bonus payments are non consolidated and non-pensionable and therefore do not have associated future costs for paybill.

Juvenile Justice Centre

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what academic qualifications were attained by juveniles detained at the Juvenile Justice Centre in each of the last six years; and what steps he is taking to increase the numbers.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Qualification type  Subjects covered  Number of young people  Number of qualifications attained 
			  2002
			 GCSE English; Maths; Science 1 1 
			  Food Hygiene 12 12 
			 
			  2003
			 AQA Maths; Art; Home Economics; PSHE; Business Studies; Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene 24 50 
			 NSP Number Skills; Communication Skills; ICT 25 29 
			 
			  2004
			 AQA Maths; English; Geography; Art; Home Economics; PSHE; Business Studies; Music; Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene 65 94 
			 NSP Number Skills; Communication Skills; ICT; Personal Skills 65 94 
			 GCSE English; English Literature; Maths; Child Development 5 14 
			 
			  2005
			 AQA Maths; English; Geography; Art; Home Economics; PSHE; Business Studies; Music; Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene; Car Mechanics; Swimming; Kayaking 56 226 
			 NSP Number Skills; Communication Skills; ICT; Personal Skills 41 124 
			 GCSE English; English Literature; Maths 4 (1)— 
			 
			  2006
			 AQA Maths; English; Geography; Art; Home Economics; PSHE; Business Studies; Music; Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene; Car Mechanics; Swimming; Kayaking; Cartooning; Life Skills 62 121 
			 NSP Number Skills; Communication Skills; ICT; Personal Skills 39 97 
			 GCSE English; English Literature; Maths; RE; ICT; Science; German 3 (1)— 
			 
			  2007
			 AQA Maths; English; Geography; Art; Home Economics; PSHE; Business Studies; Music; Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene; Car Mechanics; Swimming; Kayaking; Cartooning; Life Skills (2)140 Pending 
			 Essential Skills Number Skills (2)40 Pending 
			 Essential Skills Communication Skills (2)40 Pending 
			 Occupational Skills Vehicle Studies (entry level GCSE equivalent) (2)4 Pending 
			 (1) Results not forwarded to Juvenile Justice Centre as the young person had been discharged from custody by the time results were published. (2) Figures for 2007 show those entered for examinations to date—results are pending.  Key: AQA—Assessment and Qualifications Alliance NSP—National Skills Profile 
		
	
	There has been a steady growth in academic qualifications taken and achieved over the last six years. A culture of learning is well established amongst staff and young people and the centre will seek to further strengthen this ethos by continuing to motivate, encourage and promote the value of education in improving the life chances and opportunities for young people. Service delivery is regularly reviewed and additions to the curriculum will be made in response to the requirements of custody and community plans.

Roads: Accidents

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were  (a) killed and  (b) seriously injured as a result of road traffic accidents in Northern Ireland, broken down by (i) council area and (ii) constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: This information is not collated in the format requested but is available by district command unit as set out in the following tables. Data is available for the last nine years only.
	Table 1 relates to  (a) persons killed and Table 2 relates to  (b) persons seriously injured as a result of road traffic collisions during the last nine years for which statistics are available.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of injury road traffic collision fatalities by district command unit, 1998 to 2006 
			  DCU  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Antrim 6 3 3 12 5 10 7 7 11 
			 Ards 6 5 2 13 4 4 8 5 4 
			 Armagh 12 9 7 7 9 4 8 5 6 
			 Banbridge 7 4 4 5 8 4 6 1 3 
			 East Belfast 4 4 3 3 4 1 0 1 1 
			 North Belfast 6 2 8 1 7 3 2 4 2 
			 South Belfast 1 1 0 0 2 2 3 4 1 
			 West Belfast 6 6 5 7 3 5 3 4 3 
			 Ballymena 9 2 9 4 6 9 3 7 4 
			 Ballymoney 1 7 4 1 6 3 5 5 1 
			 Carrickfergus 1 3 1 0 2 3 1 0 0 
			 Coleraine 7 8 7 7 6 4 3 4 12 
			 Cookstown 7 5 8 4 2 3 2 3 4 
			 Craigavon 2 4 5 7 4 2 1 2 1 
			 Castlereagh 0 2 9 2 7 2 2 3 4 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone 7 7 10 8 5 8 9 6 8 
			 Down 5 5 9 5 7 6 4 4 6 
			 Fermanagh 8 11 11 14 7 8 14 11 15 
			 Foyle 4 3 4 4 5 4 7 6 3 
			 Larne 2 2 3 5 2 8 3 2 3 
			 Limavady 2 2 5 10 0 4 5 7 1 
			 Lisburn 11 10 10 6 13 12 9 9 6 
			 Magherafelt 5 9 6 4 5 3 5 11 4 
			 Moyle 2 1 0 1 3 1 3 0 2 
			 Newtownabbey 7 4 4 2 4 4 6 4 4 
			 North Down 5 3 3 1 4 5 4 3 4 
			 Newry and Mourne 20 14 22 7 12 19 18 9 8 
			 Omagh 5 4 5 5 6 6 4 8 2 
			 Strabane 2 1 4 3 2 3 2 0 3 
			 Total 160 141 171 148 150 150 147 135 126 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of casualties seriously injured due to injury road traffic collisions by district command unit, 1998 to 2006 
			  DCU  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Antrim 58 44 57 91 59 52 34 21 41 
			 Ards 77 51 75 72 62 48 56 53 45 
			 Armagh 95 60 58 59 68 60 44 48 59 
			 Banbridge 56 32 31 46 37 32 34 27 34 
			 East Belfast 47 47 68 59 56 32 38 38 35 
			 North Belfast 47 59 70 62 63 38 43 57 42 
			 South Belfast 47 54 76 63 55 57 65 37 43 
			 West Belfast 65 67 106 90 72 58 51 28 40 
			 Ballymena 49 60 53 55 64 29 47 52 55 
			 Ballymoney 44 47 41 27 36 26 25 20 26 
			 Carrickfergus 31 18 25 28 19 23 8 22 32 
			 Coleraine 42 75 59 57 58 45 44 20 42 
			 Cookstown 30 50 51 34 30 35 32 26 32 
			 Craigavon 67 43 82 73 54 55 47 53 43 
			 Castlereagh 53 36 55 52 37 35 25 7 24 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone 60 45 65 59 54 63 47 59 47 
			 Down 41 50 86 82 65 46 40 31 50 
			 Fermanagh 73 75 81 69 81 56 48 67 49 
			 Foyle 80 62 77 59 50 57 61 48 34 
			 Larne 17 33 22 34 32 44 27 21 26 
			 Limavady 34 42 31 40 47 31 48 44 39 
			 Lisburn 90 103 137 153 101 86 76 71 88 
			 Magherafelt 32 46 38 44 45 44 23 36 37 
			 Moyle 16 22 28 11 26 25 17 11 13 
			 Newtownabbey 69 40 76 57 54 28 30 39 67 
			 North Down 34 54 55 40 63 54 41 39 34 
			 Newry and Mourne 93 97 97 82 79 72 67 32 53 
			 Omagh 58 65 49 54 33 42 37 36 53 
			 Strabane 33 32 37 30 26 15 28 30 28 
			 Total 1,538 1,509 1,786 1,682 1,526 1,288 1,183 1,073 1,211 
			  Source: PSNI Central Statistics Unit.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were  (a) killed and  (b) seriously injured as a result of road traffic accidents at the location of static speed cameras in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: Data is available for the last nine years only, and is presented in the following tables. The statistics relate to incidents within a 500 m radius of the camera location.
	
		
			  Number 
			   Fatalities  People seriously injured 
			  Antrim Road, Belfast   
			 1998 0 1 
			 1999 0 4 
			 2000 0 0 
			 2001 0 1 
			 2002 1 0 
			 2003 0 0 
			 2004 0 0 
			 2005 0 1 
			 2006 0 0 
			
			  Springfield Road, Belfast   
			 1998 0 0 
			 1999 0 3 
			 2000 0 2 
			 2001 0 2 
			 2002 0 2 
			 2003 0 2 
			 2004 0 0 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 0 0 
			
			  Saintfield Road, Belfast   
			 1998 0 5 
			 1999 0 6 
			 2000 0 2 
			 2001 0 3 
			 2002 0 1 
			 2003 0 1 
			 2004 0 1 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 0 1 
			
			  Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast   
			 1998 0 2 
			 1999 1 1 
			 2000 0 1 
			 2001 0 5 
			 2002 0 1 
			 2003 0 2 
			 2004 0 1 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 0 0 
		
	
	Speed over distance camera system around Newry: A1 dual carriageway between Sheepbridge and Mourne Country roundabout and between the Cloghue roundabout and the border.
	
		
			  Number 
			   Fatalities  People seriously injured 
			 1998 0 5 
			 1999 2 4 
			 2000 1 1 
			 2001 1 11 
			 2002 5 11 
			 2003 4 3 
			 2004 4 6 
			 2005 1 5 
			 2006 0 0

Environment Protection

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to improve and reinforce consumer and investor confidence in new environmental technologies.

Malcolm Wicks: The UK has a thriving environmental sector, employing around 400,000 people, and forecast to grow from £25 billion in 2005 to £46 billion by 2015.
	Supporting the development of new environmental technologies is key to the Government's aim to enhance the UK's position in worldwide environmental markets and to realise the benefits of the jobs it can create. Engaging the knowledge and experience of business to direct DTI support for new technology will help grow consumer and investor confidence in this area. Through the DTI's technology programme, the Government have ring fenced £20 million per annum between 2005 and 2008 for investment in low carbon energy technologies.
	Other investments support innovative technologies that can enhance the efficiency with which materials, energy and water are utilised, and through the minimisation of waste. Examples include lean manufacturing and environmentally-friendly vehicles.
	The Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance was established in November last year and intends to publish its report in this parliamentary session (before 26 July 2007). It will make recommendations for action by Government and business on how the UK can make the most of the opportunity that environmental protection can present for wealth creation and employment growth.
	The Commission is jointly-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Trade and Industry, and its membership is drawn from business, non-governmental organisations, academia, trade unions and public sector organisations.

Internet: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the losses suffered in each of the last five years by the British film, music, retail and rental industries as a result of internet piracy and the production and distribution of illegal copies of film and music; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: Industry estimates that in 2005 the worldwide value of trade in pirate music discs was $4.5 billion while 20 billion tracks were illegally downloaded. In the same time the criminal gain in the UK from DVD piracy was estimated at £278 million. The Government are committed to working with industry to address this problem.
	Better intelligence is the key work to combating IP crime across the board. We need a better understanding of the criminals involved and their business methods. The Government have been working on this and a number of areas where existing material appears to be deficient. The UK Intellectual Property Office has set up an intelligence hub and is bringing in expert resources. Collaboration is vital, and I call on all sectors to become involved in the important work and to share the information they have.

Nanotechnology

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government spent on nanotechnology in each of the last 10 years; and how much it plans to spend in the next 10 years.

Malcolm Wicks: A wide variety of government supported research activities could to some extent be deemed to embrace nanoscience and nanotechnologies, thus it is not possible to accurately identify all Government funding in this area in the last 10 years.
	With this proviso, the estimated Government support committed for nanotechnology work over the last 10 years amounts to about £408 million as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2006-07 66.27 
			 2005-06 66.0 
			 2004-05 65.76 
			 2003-04 60.80 
			 2002-03 40.58 
			 2001-02 50 
			 2000-01 35.5 
			 1999-2000 11.00 
			 1998-99 12.39 
			 1997-98 (1)— 
			 (1) No data available (as there was no nanotechnology relevant coding at this time). 
		
	
	It is not possible to say precisely how much the Government will spend on nanotechnology over the next 10 years. These decisions will be based on the outcome of the comprehensive spending review and commercial and academic opportunities identified by the DTI's Technology Strategy Board and the Research Councils.

Asylum: Deportation

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which countries received returning failed asylum applicants under the UK enforced returns programme in each year since 2004; how many enforced returnees were sent back to each of those countries in each year; and what packages of assistance were provided in each case;
	(2)  which countries have received returning failed asylum applicants under the UK voluntary returns programme since 2004; how many voluntary returnees have been sent back to each; and what packages of assistance were provided by each.

Liam Byrne: The first of the accompanying tables shows the number of asylum applicants, including dependants, who were recorded as being "forcibly" removed from the UK since 2004, broken down by destination. These figures include enforced removals, persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them and since 2005 those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities.
	The second of the accompanying tables shows the number of asylum applicants, including dependants, leaving the UK under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration since 2004, broken down by destination. These figures may include some cases where enforcement action had been initiated.
	It is not possible to say at what stage in the asylum process people are at the time of their removal, as those departing voluntarily can do so at any stage.
	Information relating to the reintegration assistance package provided in each case is not available; it would be available by examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
	Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available on the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		
			  Removals and voluntary departures, excluding assisted returns(1,2,3) of asylum applicants(4),( )including dependants, by destination(5), 2004-06(6) 
			  Destination  2004  2005( 6)  2006( 6)  2004-06 total( 6) 
			 Albania 565 490 1,015 2,070 
			 Macedonia 20 30 15 65 
			 Moldova 65 55 40 160 
			 Romania 880 665 375 1,920 
			 Russia 40 45 50 135 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 1,625 1,315 730 3,675 
			 Turkey 255 790 1,610 2,655 
			 Ukraine 150 100 75 325 
			 EU Accession States — 135 170 305 
			 Other Former USSR 135 135 135 410 
			 Europe other 2,300 2,185 2,005 6,490 
			 Europe total 6,040 5,945 6,220 18,210 
			  
			 Colombia 185 210 145 540 
			 Ecuador 185 155 65 410 
			 Jamaica 465 395 395 1,255 
			 Americas other 170 165 145 480 
			 Americas total 1,005 925 755 2,680 
			  
			 Algeria 155 205 190 550 
			 Angola 80 125 25 230 
			 Burundi * 15 5 15 
			 Cameroon 55 25 25 105 
			 Congo 30 50 45 125 
			 Dem. Rep. Congo 15 40 90 145 
			 Eritrea 5 * * 10 
			 Ethiopia 845 25 50 920 
			 Gambia 45 35 65 145 
			 Ghana 245 240 155 635 
			 Ivory Coast 50 10 25 85 
			 Kenya 110 50 100 260 
			 Liberia 45 20 10 75 
			 Nigeria 265 560 640 1,470 
			 Rwanda 35 5 5 45 
			 Sierra Leone 40 60 70 170 
			 Somalia 15 5 10 30 
			 Sudan 25 35 30 95 
			 Tanzania 20 45 50 110 
			 Uganda 210 235 190 635 
			 Zimbabwe 50 180 50 280 
			 Africa other 245 340 210 795 
			 Africa total 2,585 2,300 2,035 6,920 
			  
			 Iran 75 170 170 410 
			 Iraq 5 45 65 120 
			 Libya 20 40 30 90 
			 Syria 30 25 45 95 
			 Middle East other 115 205 260 580 
			 Middle East total 245 480 570 1,295 
			  
			 Afghanistan 345 485 450 1,280 
			 Bangladesh 375 255 230 865 
			 China 90 215 160 465 
			 India 260 340 485 1,085 
			 Pakistan 505 825 1,000 2,330 
			 Sri Lanka 260 160 410 830 
			 Vietnam 10 45 100 155 
			 Asia other 275 310 405 990 
			 Asia total 2,115 2,635 3,245 7,990 
			  
			 Other, and destination not known 220 165 75 460 
			  
			 Total asylum applicants removed(4) 12,210 12,450 12,900 37,560 
			 (1) Includes enforced removals and those departing 'Voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them. (2) Removals in 2005 and 2006 include those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. (3) Excludes Assisted Voluntary Returns. (4) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, including dependants. (5) Figures rounded to the nearest five, with '—' = 0, * = 1 or 2. (6) Provisional figures. 
		
	
	
		
			  Asylum applicants( 1) , including dependants, leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes( 2) , by destination( 3) , 2004-06( 4) 
			  Destination  2004  2005( 4)  2006( 4)  2004-06 total( 4) 
			 Albania 600 510 330 1,440 
			 Macedonia 5 5 10 20 
			 Moldova 10 5 10 30 
			 Romania 5 5 5 20 
			 Russia 20 35 60 120 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 145 170 125 440 
			 Turkey 25 30 85 140 
			 Ukraine 15 20 30 60 
			 EU Accession States 155 — 5 160 
			 Other Former USSR 25 45 85 155 
			 Europe other 35 25 30 90 
			 Europe total 1,040 855 780 2,675 
			  
			 Colombia 60 55 60 175 
			 Ecuador 40 15 35 90 
			 Jamaica 5 10 35 50 
			 Americas other 50 20 55 125 
			 Americas total 160 100 185 440 
			  
			 Algeria 35 40 110 185 
			 Angola 25 40 95 165 
			 Burundi * * 5 10 
			 Cameroon 10 10 20 35 
			 Congo 5 10 25 40 
			 Dem. Rep. Congo * 5 25 30 
			 Eritrea — — — — 
			 Ethiopia 15 15 35 60 
			 Gambia * * 5 10 
			 Ghana * 5 15 20 
			 Ivory Coast 5 5 10 20 
			 Kenya 15 5 35 55 
			 Liberia 5 5 10 15 
			 Nigeria 10 10 50 70 
			 Rwanda 5 5 10 20 
			 Sierra Leone 10 5 25 40 
			 Somalia 15 15 35 65 
			 Sudan 5 10 45 55 
			 Tanzania 10 — 15 25 
			 Uganda 20 30 45 95 
			 Zimbabwe 60 100 220 385 
			 Africa other 40 55 120 215 
			 Africa total 295 375 945 1,610 
			  
			 Iran 175 220 305 700 
			 Iraq 430 775 1,710 2,915 
			 Libya * — 15 15 
			 Syria * 5 10 20 
			 Middle East other 55 55 70 180 
			 Middle East total 665 1,055 2,110 3,830 
			  
			 Afghanistan 235 425 520 1,180 
			 Bangladesh * 5 20 25 
			 China * 30 110 145 
			 India 15 20 70 105 
			 Pakistan 55 85 190 330 
			 Sri Lanka 210 250 280 740 
			 Vietnam 5 10 40 55 
			 Asia other 20 25 65 110 
			 Asia total 545 850 1,295 2,690 
			  
			 Other, and destination not known 5 * 20 20 
			  
			 Total asylum applicants removed(1) 2,705 3,235 5,330 11,270 
			 (1 )Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, including dependants. (2) Persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. May include some cases where enforcement action had been initiated. (3) Figures rounded to the nearest five, with '—' = 0, * = 1 or 2. (4) Provisional figures.

Departments: Foreign Relations

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Memoranda of Understanding are in force as a result of agreements with foreign governments entered into by Ministers in his Department; and what executive actions each entails.

Joan Ryan: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain would incur disproportionate costs.

Police: Pay

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the ranges of pay are for all ranks in the police force.

Tony McNulty: This information is available in 'the Determinations of the Secretary of State under the Police Regulations 2003' Annex F. This information is too large to be included in the  O fficial  R eport, but I will arrange for a copy of the document to be placed in the House of Commons Library shortly. It can also be found in Home Office circular 014/2007 on the Home Office website under:
	http://www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/HO/circular.nsfA/iewTemplatepercent20Forpercent20HOCircularsWeb?OpenForm&Start=1&Count=30&Expand=1&Seq=1

Terrorism: Finance

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the sources of funding for extremist imams in the UK; and which countries have been identified as sources of funding.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office has made no assessment about the sources of funding for extremist Imams in the UK. However, the Government are undertaking a range of measures to tackle violent extremism, which includes strengthening the role of faith institutions and leaders, further details of which can found in the Communities and Local Government publication 'Preventing Violent Extremism' (http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1506079) and a public consultation, run by the Home Office and HM Treasury, on how charitable organisations can best be safeguarded from exploitation (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Charities_consultation.pdf?view=Binary).

Agricultural Products: Prices

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average retail price was of  (a) apples,  (b) beef,  (c) cabbages,  (d) carrots,  (e) chicken,  (f) eggs,  (g) lamb,  (h) onions,  (i) pork,  (j) potatoes,  (k) tomatoes,  (l) wheat and  (m) milk in each year since 1995.

Barry Gardiner: The retail prices from 1995 up to 2006 for the listed commodities are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Commodity   1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Apples - cooking p per kg 91 111 120 127 104 107 118 117 148 150 144 144 
			 Apples - dessert p per kg 100 112 112 105 103 108 116 121 127 125 118 122 
			 Beef — home-killed topside p per kg — 543 628 610 637 625 641 660 660 688 663 721 
			 Cabbage hearts p per kg 70 77 66 66 58 55 67 66 61 60 57 56 
			 Carrots p per kg 54 56 47 54 49 45 61 55 55 57 64 65 
			 Chicken—fresh/chilld p per kg — 182 236 226 220 223 227 224 228 232 230 224 
			 Eggs - size 2 (65-70g) p per dozen 138 158 159 152 161 168 172 172 168 169 171 181 
			 Eggs -size 4 (55-60g) p per dozen 119 136 138 131 138 138 152 152 154 155 155 165 
			 Lamb—home-killed shoulder inc bone p per kg — 343 371 317 323 340 354 379 426 424 402 423 
			 Lamb—home-killed loin (with bone) p per kg — 757 864 792 835 855 893 971 1010 1025 986 1069 
			 Onions p per kg 76 59 56 65 52 56 65 69 62 62 66 61 
			 Pork—home-killed loin (with bone) p per kg — 439 496 436 422 446 455 479 481 506 502 518 
			 Pork—home-killed boneless shoulder p per kg — — 341 286 280 307 336 336 333 341 328 334 
			 Potatoes - old white p per kg 37 30 35 52 42 32 63 57 52 60 45 48 
			 Potatoes - new loose p per kg 60 56 54 77 71 70 87 87 89 96 84 80 
			 Tomatoes p per kg 114 129 117 123 124 150 125 140 149 129 142 132 
			 Flour - self raising p per kg 38 39 40 41 41 40 40 40 41 45 43 44 
			 Milk - Pasteurised p per litre 64 63 62 60 60 60 64 64 64 62 61 61 
			  Source: Office of National Statistics, consumer price indices, RPI average retail price of selected items

EU Inspire Directive

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable is for the implementation of the EU Inspire Directive.

Ian Pearson: European Parliament Directive 2007/2/EC, establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE), came into force on 15 May 2007. Member states have two years to transpose into national legislation.
	A series of technical implementing rules will accompany the directive. These are currently being developed by several drafting teams under the auspices of the European Commission. They include Implementing Rules on the interoperability and, where practicable, harmonisation of spatial data sets.
	The Implementing Rules will be subject to expert and public review. DEFRA and other Government organisations are participating in this process. In addition, as part of the process for developing the interoperability implementing rules, the Commission (with input from member states) will undertake analyses to ensure that the rules are feasible and proportionate in terms of their likely costs and benefits. They will be adopted between 2008 and 2012 and come into force between 2010 and 2019.
	On 16 May 2007, the Commission published an INSPIRE Work Programme for development of the Implementing Rules during the transposition phase. This contained a roadmap for the development and implementation of the Implementation Rules.
	The Implementing Rules will be adopted through the Comitology procedure. The first meeting of the INSPIRE Committee will be on 26 June 2007.

Renewable Energy

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on the development of a renewable energy and efficiency partnership.

Ian Pearson: The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) was established in 2003 in response to the world summit on sustainable development. REEEP has been recognised by the G8 in the outcomes of Gleneagles, St Petersburg and Heiligendamm as a key delivery vehicle for accelerating the uptake of renewables and energy efficiency in developing countries.
	REEEP has over 200 partners, including over 35 governments and a global network of eight secretariats based in leading energy organisations around the world. It has also developed strong links with the private sector, academia and international bodies such as the World Bank, UN agencies and the International Energy Agency.
	DEFRA provides funding to REEEP of £2.5 million each year for 2005-08. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provided funding of £1 million each year for 2004-06. Several governments, notably the US, Australia, a number of EU states and Norway now also provide funding.
	REEEP is well positioned to support future action on climate change and is already beginning to scale up and replicate its successful interventions. As the partnership develops it is now able to engage more strategically with key government, international bodies and the private sector in support of UK energy and climate objectives, and act as a platform for international co-operation on these issues.

Waste Management

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures his Department has put in place to reduce its waste arisings; and what the quantitative impact of each measure has been.

Ben Bradshaw: Each site within the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has a programme of waste reduction measures appropriate to their site in order to enable them to meet the sustainable operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) targets. Performance information is continually monitored and reported quarterly and collated into a central report.
	Latest performance data shows that the total waste arisings for the Department have decreased by 8.12 per cent. from 5,716 tonnes in 2005-06 to 5,252 tonnes in 2006-07.
	In order to further reduce waste arisings, we are about to conduct trials of other measures, which we hope will further reduce our waste output.

Departments: Home Working

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in her Department have been allowed to work from home for part of the week in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement on her Department's policy on home working.

Angela Smith: At present no records are kept centrally on requests to work form home for part of the week as this is a local agreement between staff and the line manager.
	Communities and Local Government supports all forms of flexible working and is currently reviewing its policy to make it clearer for staff and line managers to understand the balance between the work we need to do and the achievement of a successful work/life balance, including home working arrangements.

Housing: Armed Forces

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether service personnel may be accepted as having a local connection for the purposes of social housing if they grew up in the same area in which they served; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the joint ministerial statement laid in the House by the Minister for Housing and Planning and the Under Secretary of State for Defence on 21 June 2007.

Repossession Orders: Eastbourne

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many orders for repossession were  (a) applied for and  (b) granted to Eastbourne borough council in each of the last 10 years.

Vera Baird: I have been asked to reply.
	The following table shows the number of orders for landlord possession applied for and granted to Eastbourne borough council for each year since 2001, the earliest year for which we have consistent data.
	
		
			  Number of landlord possession orders( 1)  applied for and granted to Eastbourne  borough council, 2001 - 06 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  Eastbourne borough council   
			 Applied for 39 44 84 48 66 102 
			 Granted to 22 38 57 52 43 74 
			
			  England  and  Wales   
			 Applied for 175 177 159 154 144 134 
			 Granted to 116 118 107 102 97 89 
			 (1) The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. 
		
	
	These figures do not indicate how many properties have been repossessed through the courts, since not all orders result in the properties actually being repossessed.

Aviation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many airports  (a) which have runway development plans approved in the Future of Air Transport White Paper and  (b) where land is safeguarded for future development have implemented voluntary plans to tackle generalised blight;
	(2)  which of the airports  (a) which have runway development plans approved in the Future of Air Transport White Paper and  (b) where land is safeguarded for future development have implemented voluntary schemes to address general blight.

Gillian Merron: "The Future of Air Transport" White Paper invited airport operators to bring forward voluntary schemes to address generalised blight where new runways are supported by the White Paper or where land is safeguarded for future development. The Government published a progress report in December 2006, reaffirming its commitment to the strategy set out in the White Paper. BAA has implemented voluntary blight schemes at Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. Schemes have also been introduced by the operators of Birmingham and Luton airports.

Driving Under Influence: EC Action

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what  (a) oral and  (b) written representations he has received from (i) European Union and (ii) other European authorities on the harmonisation of a statutory blood alcohol level limit for drivers;
	(2)  what agreements have been made with European Union members on the statutory blood alcohol level limit for drivers;
	(3)  what steps the Government have taken to introduce a 50 milligramme blood alcohol level following the EU Transport Council in November 2006.

Stephen Ladyman: Written representations were received from the European Commission in 2001 concerning the publication of the Commission's recommendation on the maximum permitted BAG for drivers of motorised vehicles. No agreements have been made with EU members on the legal alcohol limit for drivers.
	We have made clear our view in the report of the second three-year review of the road safety strategy that the legal limit cannot be considered in isolation from other drink-drive measures, but we will keep the case for a reduction in the limit under review.

Burglary: Sentencing

David Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many mandatory sentences were handed down to burglars in each year since 1997.

David Hanson: The following table shows the information reported to the Ministry of Justice, previously Home Office, Court Proceedings Database on persons sentenced under section 111 of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (previously section 4 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997) in England and Wales for a third offence of domestic burglary in the years 2000 to 2005. Data is not available before 2000, as the Crown court computer system was not updated to recognise these sentences until then.
	The data are published in table 2.6 of the Statistical Bulletin, "Sentencing Statistics 2005". It can be located at the following:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb0307.pdf
	
		
			  Persons sentenced under the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, 2000-05: England and Wales 
			  Number of persons 
			   Section 111 (Minimum three years for third domestic burglary) 
			 2000 — 
			 2001 6 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 13 
			 2004 46 
			 2005 89 
		
	
	Statistics for 2006 will be published in the autumn.

Crown Courts: Prison Accommodation

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what level of supervision is provided to prisoners detained overnight in Crown Court cells; and if she will make a statement.

David Hanson: Staffing levels are determined on a site-by-site basis in order to ensure safety and decency, good order and control. In addition to an appropriate level of staff provided by the relevant prisoner escort contractor, there is prison service governor grade supervision.

Crown Courts: Prison Accommodation

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice who is responsible for the supervision of prisoners lodged overnight in Crown Court cells; and if she will make a statement.

David Hanson: It is a legal requirement for prisoners to be held in the custody under the authority and direction of a 'constable.' When court cells are in use, this role is discharged by a prison service governor grade.
	Additional staffing of court cells is provided by the relevant prisoner escort contractor, following established operating procedures.

Crown Courts: Prison Accommodation

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners have been held overnight in Crown Court cells since the beginning of 2007; and if she will make a statement.

David Hanson: Since the beginning of 2007 current data show that court cells have been used on 561 occasions (as at 19 June 2007). One occasion means one prisoner night in a court cell.

Aggregates Levy Fund

Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the Aggregates Levy Fund was allocated to each of the fund's eight national delivery partners in each year since the fund was established.

Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
	The figures in the following table show the final allocations to the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund's national delivery partners in England in each of the financial years the fund has been running.
	
		
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Natural England — — — — — 5,100,000 
			 English Nature 4,970,000 4,193,000 4,110,000 3,500,000 2,688,000 — 
			 Countryside Agency 5,470,000 4,193,000 2,710,000 2,160,000 2,002,000 — 
			 English Heritage 5,470,000 4,193,000 4,310,000 4,350,000 3,423,000 4,400,000 
			 CEFAS (Marine) — — 950,000 1,300,000 910,000 2,500,000 
			 Waste and Resources Action Programme 6,500,000 8,240,000 3,650,000 5,980,000 5,446,000 2,700,000 
			 Minerals Industry Research Organisation 1,800,000 1,627,000 1,490,000 1,650,000 1,155,000 1,500,000 
			 Department for Transport — — 400,000 2,200,000 2,849,000 1,400,000 
			 Department of Trade and Industry 700,000 700,000 410,000 — — — 
			 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 1,860,000 1,860,000 1,640,000 1,800,000 1,260,000 —

Council Tax: Valuation

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many laser pens and laser measuring devices the Valuation Office Agency has purchased in the last 36 months; and what the cost has been.

Stephen Timms: Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has laser measuring devices, but not laser pens. These are available to staff carrying out property inspections as part of the work of the VOA. The company that provides the laser measuring devices also supplies other items and services to the VOA, which are invoiced together. Therefore, a breakdown of the cost of laser measuring devices could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Council Tax: Valuation

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the property attributes and data that the HM Revenue and Customs Stamp Office provides to the Valuation Office Agency in relation to domestic dwellings to assist with council tax valuations and revaluations.

Edward Balls: The data which Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs stamp taxes supplies to the Valuation Office Agency is the information included in the land transaction return, which is prescribed by the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Administration) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2837).

Departments: Redundancy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many redundancies there were from his Department in  (a) 2002-03 and  (b) 2006-07; and what the total amount was of compensation payments made in each year.

John Healey: There were no redundancies in the Treasury in 2002-03. The data for 2006-07 is as follows. The costs of compulsory early severance or early retirement are determined according to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
	
		
			  2006-07 
			  £ 
			  Number of redundancies  Cost 
			 3 462,439

Disabled: Children

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with representative groups about the transition support programme announced in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.

Edward Balls: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide range of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	The disabled children review consulted on a wide range of policy options, including support at transition to adulthood, with voluntary sector representatives, providers, professionals, local government, disabled children and young people and their parents, MPs, and academics, through:
	responses to the Children and Young People review Call for evidence in 2006;
	joint HM Treasury and Department for Education and Skills seminars in July and October 2006;
	a series of parliamentary hearings held in July 2006;
	engagement with the disabled children's pathfinder children's trusts; and
	visits to local authorities and specific providers.

Public Sector: Manpower

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what his latest estimate is of the  (a) total population and  (b) number of public sector workers for the period from 2007 to 2057; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what changes to Government assumptions about  (a) public sector staff turnover and  (b) the total number of public sector employees in relation to the total population underlie the new estimates of the future costs of public sector pensions in (i) the 2006 long-term public finance report and (ii) the 2004 long-term public finance report ; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The staff turnover assumptions used in the long term public finance report are provided by the Government Actuary's Department to reflect the actual experience of the schemes. The 2005 staff turnover assumptions were based on the assumptions adopted for principal civil service pension scheme (PCSPS) based on scheme experience while the 2006 assumptions are a weighted average of PCSPS, NHS pension scheme (NHSPS) and the teachers pension scheme (TPS) experience and assumptions. A technical note detailing staff turnover assumptions for the 2005 cash flow projections for unfunded public service pension schemes was also placed in the House of Commons Library in June 2006 and a note detailing the 2006 projections is published on the Government Actuary's Department website.
	Data used in the LTPFR assumptions is based on scheme membership and not on the total number of public sector employees. HM Treasury does not produce population estimates or projections. The last official population projections were produced by the Government Actuary's Department in 2005 and are publicly available on their website. The Office of National Statistics will be responsible for producing the next set of projections and these will be published on 23 October.

Tax Credit: Pension Funds

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the evidential basis is which supports the statement that the abolition of dividend tax credits in his July 1997 Budget was the right decision for the future of the UK's pension system.

Edward Balls: I refer the hon. gentleman to the statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer made to the House and subsequent exchanges, on occupational pensions on 17 April 2007,  Official Report, columns 175-79.

Cancer

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will be diagnosed with lymphoma in the next five years.

Rosie Winterton: We estimate that 57,698 people with be diagnosed with a type of lymphoma between 2008 and 2013.

Cancer

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of lymphoma patients who are able to choose whether to receive their care at home or in a community setting.

Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published "Improving Outcomes" guidance for patients with haematological cancers, including lymphoma, in October 2003. This guidance covers all aspects of a lymphoma patient pathway, including providing supportive care in both a home and community setting. It is based on the best available evidence and has been put together after wide consultation, drawing on the views of patients and carers as well as the experts in the field.
	The national health service has been required to set out action plans to achieve compliance with the NICE recommendations and have set key milestones for the delivery of the guidance. Implementation will be incremental and will be supported through the increased general funding being provided to the NHS. Implementation is being monitored by strategic health authorities and through peer review.
	We have also provided £6 million of funding for the Integrated Cancer Care programme, which explored models of delivery to help all cancer patients get the best quality of care possible, and to find out the most effective ways to use resources.
	This programme also supported patient choice by engaging patients more actively in decisions about their care. A final report, detailing the development of the programme and the key recommendations, was submitted to Ministers in spring 2007 and has been published on the Department of Health's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_074957
	Additionally, as part of the development of the cancer reform strategy, announced last November, we will be considering the most appropriate setting for the delivery of care for cancer patients.

Cancer: Drugs

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance her Department gives to primary care trusts for the provision of the drug Sunitinib (Sutent) to cancer patients on the NHS;
	(2)  if she will ensure that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence makes an early assessment of the effectiveness of Sunitinib (Sutent) for the treatment of cancer patients;
	(3)  what assessment her Department has made of the efficacy of the drug Sunitinib (Sutent) for treating cancer patients.

Caroline Flint: Guidance issued by the Department makes it clear that it is not acceptable for national health service organisations to refuse to fund a treatment simply because it has not been appraised by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Pending final guidance, NHS bodies should continue to make local decisions on the use of sunitinib (Sutent), taking account of the available evidence.
	The Department referred sunitinib to NICE on 19 June 2007 for appraisal as part of its 14th work programme.
	The safety, quality and efficacy of a drug is assessed as part of the process for granting a marketing authorisation. Sunitinib has been approved by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency, with contributions from the United Kingdom via membership of its scientific advisory committee, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human use, for use in the European Union to treat patients with renal cell carcinoma and gastrointestinal stomal tumour. The Department has undertaken no separate assessment of the efficacy of sunitinib.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support is available for lymphoma patients to help them comply with their treatments.

Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published 'Improving outcomes in haemato-oncology cancer' for patients with haematological cancers, including lymphoma, in October 2003. This guidance covers all aspects of a lymphoma patient pathway, including supportive care, and is based on the best available evidence and have been put together after wide consultation, drawing on the views of patients and carers as well as the experts in the field.
	The national health service has been required to set out action plans to achieve compliance with the NICE recommendations and have set key milestones for the delivery of the guidance. Implementation will be incremental and will be supported through the increased general funding being provided to the NHS. Implementation is being monitored by strategic health authorities and through peer review.

Cancer: Research

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to review the implementation of the Human Tissue Act 2004 in order to safeguard tissue-banks which may be needed for research into lymphatic cancers and other conditions.

Rosie Winterton: None. The Human Tissue Act 2004 was passed following a considerable amount of parliamentary debate as well as extensive consultation and discussion with a wide range of stakeholders including healthcare professionals, academics and researchers, families affected by organ retention, members of the general public as well as other Government Departments and the devolved administrations. It provides a sound regulatory framework that supports research activities, including tissue banking, while maintaining the confidence of both professionals and the public.

Dental Services

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis comparisons can be made between the number of NHS patients registered at a dental practice and units of dental activity to assess levels of dental provision before and after the introduction of the new General Dental Services contract.

Rosie Winterton: The Information Centre for health and social care regularly publishes information on the number of individual patients seen by national health service dentists in England over a 24 month period. The latest data shows the position for the 24 months ending 31 March 2007 and is contained in "NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 4: 31 March 2007", which is available in the Library.
	To support comparisons of access before and after the dental reforms introduced in April 2006, the Information Centre reports include information on numbers of individual patients seen in the last 24 months of the previous contractual arrangements, i.e. the period ending 31 March 2006. These data show that the number of patients seen has remained broadly stable throughout the first transitional year of the reforms.
	Units of dental activity are a way of measuring the courses of dental treatment provided for NHS patients, based on grouping courses of treatment into three main bands and applying different weightings to reflect the relative complexity of these bands. The corresponding number of patients seen will vary depending on the complexity of the treatment they require and the frequency with which they re-attend for new courses of treatment.

Dental Services

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which indicators her Department intends to use to compare NHS dental provision before and after the introduction of the new general dental services contracts.

Rosie Winterton: Data are available at national level on the numbers of patients receiving national health service dental services within the most recent two-year period and oh the number of courses of treatment provided annually for NHS patients (by treatment band). The Department is supporting primary care trusts in developing a wider range of indicators that can be used locally to measure and benchmark the development of primary dental services.

Dental Services: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what total value of NHS orthodontic treatment was carried out in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: Data identifying the value of orthodontic courses of treatment alone by financial years and for specific local areas is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	However a special analysis of General Dental Service (GDS) costs over a 12 month reference period from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005 was prepared to help calculate funding levels for the new primary dental service arrangements introduced from 1 April 2006. The following table draws on that analysis and sets out the total payments during that twelve month reference period for all courses of treatment which included an element of orthodontic care in each of the primary care trusts (PCTs) in East Sussex operational at the time.
	
		
			  PCT name  Orthodontic earnings 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005 
			 Bexhill and Rother 11,398 
			 Brighton and Hove City 918,052 
			 Eastbourne Downs 493,349 
			 Hastings and St. Leonards 225,155 
			 Sussex Downs and Weald 351,487 
			  Notes:  1. The data relates to claims from dentists working under the terms of the former General Dental Services only. It includes the value of interim payments made during the 12 month period for orthodontic treatments. It excludes orthodontic work carried out within former Personal Dental Service pilots, where the value of orthodontic as opposed to general dental treatments can be less easily identified. This may mean the GDS data above is not fully representative of all elements of orthodontic care in every area.  2. The data is presented by the PCT areas that were operational during the reference period, rather than the new PCTs that assumed responsibility for services from 1 October 2006.  Source:  Dental Practice Division of the NHS Business Services Authority.

Dental Services: St. Albans

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS funding went to providing dentistry provision in the St Albans constituency in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2006.

Rosie Winterton: Primary care trusts (PCTs) assumed full responsibility for local commissioning of primary care dentistry and received devolved budgets with effect from 1 April 2006. A table listing the primary dental service resource allocations for 2006-07 for all PCTs in England as at 31 July 2006 is available in the Library. PCTs determine the distribution of resources within their areas. A breakdown of the primary dental service resource allocations by constituency areas is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Full year data on expenditure by PCTs on primary dental care in 2006-07 is not yet available.
	Prior to April 2006, most primary dental services were provided under former general dental service (GDS) arrangements. These were demand led services where the pattern of dental expenditure was largely determined by where dentists chose to practice, and how much national health service work they chose to undertake. PCTs were not given fixed GDS funding allocations. In a number of areas, personal dental services (PDS) pilots were also established, where some former GDS dental practices and some directly managed dental services converted to locally commissioned arrangements to test new ways of working and new forms of contract remuneration. PDS pilots were funded by PCTs from supplementary allocations issued by the Department.
	The following table shows the available data on expenditure on the former GDS and PDS services for the constituency of St. Albans for 2004-05 and 2005-06. The difference between gross and net expenditure is the contribution to costs from dental charges collected directly from patients.
	
		
			  Core GDS and PDS dental payments within St. Albans constituency, 2004-05 and 2005-06 ( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3,)( )( 4,)( )( 5) 
			  £ million 
			   2004-05  2005-06 
			 Gross GDS 3.421 3.171 
			 Gross PDS 0.052 0.701 
			 Net GDS 2.389 2.287 
			 Net PDS 0.048 0.508 
			 Gross GDS and PDS 3.473 3.872 
			 Net GDS and PDS 2.437 2.795 
			 (1) Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments, seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants and clinical audit payments. The following costs are excluded from this data: employer's superannuation costs, vocational trainee salaries and NI contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit secretarial support costs and travel expenses, and costs associated with any salaried general dental practitioners and emergency dental services. (2) PDS payment data relates to baseline payments or the agreed regular monthly payments made to PDS practices. The data cannot identify the cost of any PDS services that are directly managed by local NHS trusts, such as certain dental access centres.  (3) In the immediate aftermath of dental practices converting from GDS to PDS pilots, there can be a period of overlapping expenditure as time lags in submitting GDS treatment claims can mean that clearance of GDS arrears coincides with the start of regular PDS payments.  (4) Payments to dental practices are assigned to areas on the basis of practice postcode data. The practices themselves may draw patients from a wider catchment area.  (5) Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.   Source:  The Information Centre for health and social care and the NHS Business Services Authority.

Dentists: Contracts

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were operating under  (a) general dental services contracts and  (b) personal dental services agreements in each year since 1997 in (i) Suffolk, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) Cambridgeshire, (iv) Essex, (v) Hertfordshire, (vi) Norfolk and (vii) England.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the form requested. Information on numbers of national health service dentists broken down by general dental services and personal dental services contractual arrangements is available by NHS organisation rather than by county. Information as at 30 September for the years 1997 to 2005 at primary care trust (PCT) level in the requested areas is shown in the following table. (PCT boundaries are as at 30 September 2005).
	This is the latest available data at PCT level.
	
		
			  General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): dentists by contract type in England and the specified primary care trusts (PCTs) as at 30 September each year 1997 to 2005 
			   30 September 1997  30 September 1998  30 September 1999 
			   GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists  GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists  GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists 
			 England 16,670 0 0 16,670 17,199 0 0 17,199 17,606 92 57 17,755 
			  
			 Basildon PCT 44 0 0 44 45 0 0 45 48 0 0 48 
			 Bedford PCT 52 0 0 52 53 0 0 53 65 0 2 67 
			 Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT 67 0 0 67 74 0 0 74 77 0 3 80 
			 Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT 58 0 0 58 58 0 0 58 55 0 0 55 
			 Broadland PCT 36 0 0 36 43 0 0 43 49 0 0 49 
			 Cambridge City PCT 67 0 0 67 64 0 0 64 68 0 0 68 
			 Castle Point and Rochford PCT 53 0 0 53 53 0 0 53 56 0 0 56 
			 Central Suffolk PCT 22 0 0 22 24 0 0 24 26 0 0 26 
			 Chelmsford PCT 50 0 0 50 52 0 0 52 54 0 0 54 
			 Colchester PCT 72 0 0 72 76 0 0 76 70 0 3 73 
			 Dacorum PCT 70 0 0 70 73 0 0 73 71 0 0 71 
			 East Cambridgeshire and Fenland PCT 34 0 0 34 37 0 0 37 38 0 0 38 
			 Epping Forest PCT 51 0 0 51 52 0 0 52 49 0 0 49 
			 Great Yarmouth PCT 45 0 0 45 49 0 0 49 48 0 0 48 
			 Harlow PCT 27 0 0 27 28 0 0 28 34 0 0 34 
			 Hertsmere PCT 45 0 0 45 49 0 0 49 52 0 0 52 
			 Huntingdonshire PCT 48 0 0 48 48 0 0 48 51 0 0 51 
			 Ipswich PCT 63 0 0 63 64 0 0 64 65 0 0 65 
			 Luton PCT 65 0 0 65 72 0 0 72 74 0 0 74 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT 32 0 0 32 32 0 0 32 38 0 0 38 
			 North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT 88 0 0 88 83 0 0 83 86 0 0 86 
			 North Norfolk PCT 33 0 0 33 35 0 0 35 39 0 0 39 
			 North Peterborough PCT 35 0 0 35 33 0 0 33 37 0 0 37 
			 Norwich PCT 83 0 0 83 88 0 0 88 77 0 0 77 
			 Royston, Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford PCT 35 0 0 35 40 0 0 40 44 0 0 44 
			 South Cambridgeshire PCT 19 0 0 19 27 0 0 27 28 0 0 28 
			 South East Hertfordshire PCT 67 0 0 67 67 0 0 67 68 0 0 68 
			 South Peterborough PCT 25 0 0 25 26 0 0 26 26 0 0 26 
			 Southend on Sea PCT 57 0 0 57 62 0 0 62 64 0 0 64 
			 Southern Norfolk PCT 58 0 0 58 69 0 0 69 84 0 0 84 
			 St Albans and Harpenden PCT 75 0 0 75 75 0 0 75 75 0 0 75 
			 Suffolk Coastal PCT 29 0 0 29 29 0 0 29 33 0 0 33 
			 Suffolk West PCT 79 0 0 79 77 0 0 77 85 0 0 85 
			 Tendring PCT 37 0 0 37 40 0 0 40 43 0 0 43 
			 Thurrock PCT 33 0 0 33 32 0 0 32 33 0 0 33 
			 Uttlesford PCT 25 0 0 25 27 0 0 27 26 0 0 26 
			 Watford and Three Rivers PCT 78 0 0 78 86 0 0 86 108 0 0 108 
			 Waveney PCT 52 0 0 52 53 0 0 53 51 0 0 51 
			 Welwyn Hatfield PCT 50 0 0 50 52 0 0 52 47 0 0 47 
			 West Norfolk PCT 39 0 0 39 40 0 0 40 41 0 0 41 
			 Witham Braintree and Halstead Care Trust 35 0 0 35 33 0 0 33 30 0 0 30 
		
	
	
		
			   30 September 2000  30 September 2001  30 September 2002 
			   GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists  GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists  GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists 
			 England 17,845 190 132 18,167 17,970 470 282 18,722 17,995 622 329 18,946 
			  
			 Basildon PCT 45 0 0 45 47 0 0 47 46 0 0 46 
			 Bedford PCT 68 1 2 71 60 12 9 81 57 19 4 80 
			 Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT 77 0 3 80 84 13 3 100 75 18 2 95 
			 Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT 68 0 0 68 68 0 0 68 67 0 0 67 
			 Broadland PCT 51 0 0 51 52 0 0 52 52 0 0 52 
			 Cambridge City PCT 76 0 0 76 81 0 0 81 83 0 0 83 
			 Castle Point and Rochford PCT 55 0 0 55 54 0 0 54 52 0 0 52 
			 Central Suffolk PCT 27 0 0 27 24 0 0 24 23 0 0 23 
			 Chelmsford PCT 50 0 0 50 52 0 0 52 53 0 0 53 
			 Colchester PCT 69 0 3 72 75 0 4 79 73 0 5 78 
			 Dacorum PCT 81 0 0 81 81 0 0 81 84 0 0 84 
			 East Cambridgeshire and Fenland PCT 41 0 0 41 42 7 0 49 44 8 0 52 
			 Epping Forest PCT 53 0 0 53 54 0 0 54 49 0 0 49 
			 Great Yarmouth PCT 46 0 0 46 49 0 0 49 43 0 0 43 
			 Harlow PCT 39 0 0 39 36 0 0 36 32 0 0 32 
			 Hertsmere PCT 50 0 0 50 52 0 0 52 51 0 0 51 
			 Huntingdonshire PCT 52 0 0 52 53 0 0 53 50 0 0 50 
			 Ipswich PCT 65 0 0 65 66 0 0 66 68 0 0 68 
			 Luton PCT 76 3 0 79 75 14 0 89 73 18 0 91 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT 32 0 0 32 31 0 0 31 29 0 0 29 
			 North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT 90 0 0 90 96 0 0 96 96 0 0 96 
			 North Norfolk PCT 39 0 0 39 47 0 0 47 45 0 0 45 
			 North Peterborough PCT 41 2 0 43 42 5 1 48 47 7 0 54 
			 Norwich PCT 72 0 0 72 70 0 0 70 71 2 0 73 
			 Royston, Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford PCT 39 0 0 39 43 0 0 43 42 0 0 42 
			 South Cambridgeshire PCT 26 0 0 26 26 0 0 26 27 0 0 27 
			 South East Hertfordshire PCT 74 0 0 74 79 0 0 79 80 0 0 80 
			 South Peterborough PCT 32 0 0 32 31 0 0 31 31 0 0 31 
			 Southend on Sea PCT 65 0 0 65 65 0 0 65 62 0 0 62 
			 Southern Norfolk PCT 85 0 0 85 83 0 0 83 86 0 0 86 
			 St Albans and Harpenden PCT 76 0 0 76 85 0 0 85 89 0 0 89 
			 Suffolk Coastal PCT 32 0 0 32 30 0 0 30 27 0 0 27 
			 Suffolk West PCT 84 0 2 86 89 3 2 94 98 4 3 105 
			 Tendring PCT 44 0 0 44 46 0 0 46 45 0 0 45 
			 Thurrock PCT 43 0 0 43 40 0 0 40 42 0 0 42 
			 Uttlesford PCT 27 0 0 27 27 0 0 27 27 0 0 27 
			 Watford and Three Rivers PCT 112 0 0 112 108 0 0 108 106 0 0 106 
			 Waveney PCT 51 0 0 51 53 0 0 53 53 0 0 53 
			 Welwyn Hatfield PCT 51 0 0 51 52 0 0 52 55 0 0 55 
			 West Norfolk PCT 46 0 0 46 48 5 2 55 46 5 3 54 
			 Witham Braintree and Halstead Care Trust 40 0 0 40 37 0 0 37 37 0 0 37 
		
	
	
		
			   30 September 2003  30 September 2004  30 September 2005 
			   GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists  GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists  GDS only  PDS only  GDS and PDS  Total GDS and PDS dentists 
			 England 18,151 726 383 19,260 17,023 1,857 842 19,722 13,801 5,149 1,940 20,890 
			  
			 Basildon PCT 44 0 0 44 46 0 0 46 52 0 0 52 
			 Bedford PCT 51 26 1 78 51 30 1 82 52 39 1 92 
			 Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT 77 24 2 103 76 29 0 105 73 43 1 117 
			 Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT 70 0 0 70 69 0 0 69 70 7 0 77 
			 Broadland PCT 58 0 0 58 55 0 0 55 32 30 0 62 
			 Cambridge City PCT 92 0 0 92 91 6 1 98 69 23 1 93 
			 Castle Point and Rochford PCT 46 0 0 46 53 0 0 53 40 23 1 64 
			 Central Suffolk PCT 24 0 0 24 22 0 0 22 20 4 0 24 
			 Chelmsford PCT 56 0 0 56 55 0 0 55 38 20 0 58 
			 Colchester PCT 76 0 5 81 71 0 5 76 64 10 6 80 
			 Dacorum PCT 81 0 0 81 84 0 0 84 87 0 0 87 
			 East Cambridgeshire and Fenland PCT 43 14 0 57 46 22 0 68 38 30 0 68 
			 Epping Forest PCT 51 0 0 51 49 0 0 49 47 4 1 52 
			 Great Yarmouth PCT 45 0 0 45 39 0 0 39 14 31 0 45 
			 Harlow PCT 31 0 0 31 36 0 0 36 41 0 0 41 
			 Hertsmere PCT 51 0 0 51 52 0 0 52 54 4 1 59 
			 Huntingdonshire PCT 54 0 0 54 54 5 0 59 33 33 0 66 
			 Ipswich PCT 66 0 1 67 66 0 1 67 63 6 1 70 
			 Luton PCT 71 16 0 87 67 19 0 86 73 25 0 98 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT 29 0 0 29 29 0 0 29 18 13 0 31 
			 North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT 93 0 0 93 96 0 0 96 90 6 1 97 
			 North Norfolk PCT 45 1 0 46 45 1 0 46 45 2 0 47 
			 North Peterborough PCT 49 12 0 61 53 18 0 71 28 34 2 64 
			 Norwich PCT 79 3 0 82 79 3 0 82 78 9 0 87 
			 Royston, Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford PCT 44 0 0 44 46 0 0 46 41 3 0 44 
			 South Cambridgeshire PCT 27 0 0 27 28 0 0 28 26 $ 0 29 
			 South East Hertfordshire PCT 83 0 0 83 87 0 0 87 97 0 0 97 
			 South Peterborough PCT 32 0 0 32 31 0 0 31 26 10 0 36 
			 Southend on Sea PCT 61 0 0 61 60 0 0 60 47 18 0 65 
			 Southern Norfolk PCT 99 0 0 99 101 0 0 101 69 38 0 107 
			 St Albans and Harpenden PCT 96 0 0 96 100 0 0 100 89 7 0 96 
			 Suffolk Coastal PCT 27 0 0 27 31 0 0 31 24 4 0 28 
			 Suffolk West PCT 102 6 2 110 106 7 2 115 78 37 2 117 
			 Tendring PCT 45 0 0 45 46 0 0 46 42 10 2 54 
			 Thurrock PCT 44 0 0 44 43 0 0 43 44 6 0 50 
			 Uttlesford PCT 27 0 0 27 27 0 0 27 23 5 0 28 
			 Watford and Three Rivers PCT 105 0 0 105 108 0 0 108 108 2 0 110 
			 Waveney PCT 53 0 0 53 52 0 0 52 25 22 0 47 
			 Welwyn Hatfield PCT 64 0 0 64 69 0 0 69 67 0 0 67 
			 West Norfolk PCT 44 8 1 53 42 12 4 58 30 24 7 61 
			 Witham Braintree and Halstead Care Trust 35 0 0 35 40 0 0 40 32 15 0 47 
			  Notes: 1. PCT boundaries are as at 30 September 2006. 2. Dentists will be counted more than once if they have contracts in more than one PCT. England totals exclude duplication. 3. The figures are based on the numbers of dentists with open GDS or PDS contracts. 4. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. 5. The areas have been defined using practice postcodes within the PCT. 6. Data includes notifications received by the NHS BSA up to 2 November 2005 for England data and 13 January 2006 for PCT data. 7. No account is taken of the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides.  Sources: 1. The Information Centre for health and social care 2. NHS Business Services Authority (BSA)

Departments: Opinion Leader Research

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) value and  (b) purpose was of each payment made by her Department to Opinion Leader Research since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The Department paid the following amounts to Opinion Leader Research.
	
		
			  Financial year  £ 
			 2002-03 47,762.59 
			 2003-04 68,859.25 
			 2004-05 48,175.00 
			 2005-06 4,772.86 
			 2006-07 71,674.99 
			 2007-08 (to May) 70,500.00 
		
	
	The company was commissioned to undertake a number of studies to support and inform policy development within the Department.
	Data for earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Diabetes

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to prevent cases of diabetes.

Rosie Winterton: We are committed to preventing as many cases of diabetes as possible. Obesity is one of the major causes of type 2 diabetes and tackling obesity, working through national and local partnerships, is a key departmental objective. The Government have a public service agreement (PSA) target, which is jointly owned by three Government Departments, to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children aged under 11 by 2010—in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. As childhood obesity often tracks into adulthood, the PSA-owning departments are working to support families to eat more healthily and be more active.

Doctors: Training

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information has been made public by  (a) her and  (b) Ministers in her Department and  (c) other representatives on (i) matching algorithms and (ii) other matters relating to Medical Training Application Service and Modernising Medical Careers that were not included in (A) her Written Statement of 15 May and (B) her response to the Urgent Question on 16 May; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The applicant's guide, which was first published on 30 November 2006, provided detailed information about the recruitment process, including how applicants would be matched to posts. Since the Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) Review began, a series of communications have been sent to applicants and recruitment teams and the applicant's guide has been revised. All of this information is available on the MMC website at www.mmc.nhs.uk.
	Further background and information on the decision not to proceed with designing an algorithm to match applicants to posts was included in the Departments witness statements to the Judicial Review brought by Remedy UK. Copies of these two statements have been placed in the Library.

Doctors: Training

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the clarity of advice on requirement of the Home Office Passport Stamp in the applicants' guide of January 2007 for the Medical Training Application Service; why the date of 5 February was chosen; whether potential delays in obtaining the stamp were taken into account; and if she will change the requirement to 1 August;
	(2)  whether the applicants' guide for the Medical Training Application Service refers to migrant status and the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme;
	(3)  whether  (a) her Department and  (b) the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board can vary the 5th February deadline for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme status passport stamp.

Rosie Winterton: The application form made clear that evidence of immigration status should include an appropriately stamped passport.
	To ensure consistency in the assessment of applications it was agreed that eligibility criteria for applications to specialty training had to be met on the final date of application, 5 February. This included the assessment of immigration status. To change this date or allow exceptions to it would be impractical and unfair.
	The current applicants' guide, available on the Modernising Medical Careers website, is clear that immigration status will be assessed as of the 5 February 2007.

Elderly: Abuse

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps her Department plans to take in response to the UK study into the prevalence of elder abuse; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  when her Department  (a) commissioned and  (b) received the UK study of prevalence of elder abuse;
	(3)  if she will commission research into the prevalence of abuse of older people who are  (a) resident in care homes and  (b) suffering from dementia; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what representations she has received on  (a) the abuse of older people and  (b) the findings of the UK Study of Abuse and Neglect of Older People report.

Ivan Lewis: The Department will introduce a new monitoring system to report the extent of abuse, based on a new national standardised method for the collection of data on referrals in England. The Department will also review the "No Secrets" guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse. The case for legislation will be considered as part of the review.
	The report, "UK Study of Abuse and Neglect of Older People, Prevalence Survey Report", was commissioned jointly by the Department and Comic Relief in August 2005. A draft report of the findings of the prevalence survey was submitted at the end of March 2007. Independent peer reviews were commissioned at the beginning of April 2007 and received at the end of April. The final draft of the prevalence survey report was received on 17 May 2007 and published on 14 June.
	The research, which was produced by the Institute of Gerontology, Kings College, London and the National Centre for Social Research, involved a feasibility study of the ethical and methodological issues that would be faced by extending the work to residential care homes. This is the last stage of the commissioned study and is due to be submitted to the Department in mid July. This will enable the Department to assess if, and how, it may be possible to commission further research with residential care populations.
	The prevalence survey will have included people with dementia, where they were able to give consent to be interviewed. No proxy interviews, however, were undertaken for those without the ability to consent. Research with people who have severe dementia is extremely difficult, but there are research teams working on innovative methods for involving people with cognitive impairment. The Departments research governance framework reminds researchers of the importance of working as inclusively as possible and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a framework to enable those without capacity to be safely involved in research, where appropriate.
	To date, the Department has received a wide range of representations on the abuse of older people. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State (Lord Hunt) on 19 June 2007,  Official Report, column 94.

Health Services: Overseas Visitors

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the outstanding amount of money owed by foreign nationals for the use of NHS facilities.

Rosie Winterton: It is not possible to provide the information requested. Successive governments have not required the national health service to provide statistics on the number of foreign nationals seen, treated or charged under the provisions of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, nor any costs involved.

Health Services: Training

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what  (a) funding for training purposes was provided to and  (b) expenditure on training was made by each strategic health authority in 2006-07;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 162W, on the NHS: training, what funding for training purposes was allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs) in 2006-07, broken down by SHA; and what the actual expenditure on training was in each authority.

Rosie Winterton: The funding provided to strategic health authorities for training and education in 2006-07 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  2006-07 multi professional education and training (MPET) allocations 
			  Strategic health authority (SHA)  Total MPET allocations (£000) 
			 East Midlands SHA 276,532 
			 East of England SHA 291,090 
			 London SHA 898,301 
			 North East SHA 199,527 
			 North West SHA 499,511 
			 South Central SHA 256,782 
			 South East Coast SHA 201,456 
			 South West SHA 308,193 
			 West Midlands SHA 350,911 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside SHA 484,048 
			 England Total 3,766,349 
		
	
	The actual amount spent on education for 2006-07 is not yet known.
	The Department of Health is in the process of collecting returns relating to expenditure on education and training in 2006-07. Validated data is expected to be available by the end of June 2007.

Injuries: Children

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  many recorded injuries excluding fatalities there were of children aged  (a) 0 to four,  (b) five to eight,  (c) nine to 12 and  (d) 13 to 16 years in each year since 1997.;
	(2)  many recorded injuries excluding fatalities there were of children aged  (a) 0 to four,  (b) five to eight,  (c) nine to 12 and  (d) 13 to 16 years where the injury was recorded as taking place (i) in the home, (ii) at school, (iii) in hospital, (iv) on a sports ground or other place where sporting activities occur, (v) in public parks and (vi) in other places in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: Data are not collected centrally precisely in the form requested. Data that most closely relate to the requested figures are from the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System, available for 1997 to 2002. These data cover injuries from non-fatal home and leisure accidents leading to an accident and emergency (A&E) visit (intentional injuries, road traffic and work accidents, and injuries treated by general practitioners or at home are not included). The figures are estimates for the United Kingdom, based on a sample of hospitals. The table shows data for published childhood age groups, and for locations relevant to the requested breakdown. More detail is available in the home and leisure accident surveillance system annual reports
	www.hassandlass.org.uk/query/reports.htm
	or from Royal Society of Potential Accidents, who hold the detailed data
	www.hassandlass.org.uk/query/index.htm.
	
		
			  UK estimates of number of A & E attendances for non-fatal home and leisure accident injuries—all accidents and by location 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002 
			  Ages 0 to 4   
			 All accidents 768,420 743,180 740,730 686,770 632,700 617,320 
			 Home 595,440 580,470 579,300 533,210 489,680 477,490 
			 Hospital/health clinic/nursing home 1,600 1,990 1,960 1,580 1,910 1,600 
			 Other medical establishment 200 160 110 210 230 160 
			 Inside crèche/nursery/kindergarten 6,860 7,380 8,410 8,180 8,680 7,010 
			 Inside school/university/college (excluding sport area) 3,760 4,880 4,220 4,360 4,120 5,000 
			 School/nursery/kindergarten playground 11,040 10,920 11,720 12,120 13,140 13,120 
			 Other education area (excluding sport area) and unspecified education area 3,860 3,980 3,400 3,410 3,780 3,770 
			 Sport education area 1,180 1,230 1,190 1,010 790 1,090 
			 Sport area (excluding education area) 5,050 5,290 5,380 5,320 4,890 5,000 
			 Public playground 5,620 5,980 7,390 6,120 6,280 6,790 
			 Parkland/cemetery/gardens 8,400 6,800 7,500 7,360 6,280 7,050 
			 Other location 125,410 114,090 110,140 103,890 92,910 89,240 
			
			  Ages 5 to 14   
			 All accidents 1,593,280 1,504,420 1,541,230 1,430,150 1,382,990 1,360,690 
			 Home 462,610 445,830 464,440 433,280 410,800 405,020 
			 Hospital/health clinic/nursing home 870 1,070 950 940 860 1,110 
			 Other medical establishment 60 100 90 90 120 120 
			 Inside crèche/nursery/kindergarten 550 470 570 660 550 620 
			 Inside school/university/college (excluding sport area) 73,910 76,110 82,620 78,690 75,900 71,030 
			 School/nursery/kindergarten playground 119,320 128,040 138,530 124,340 130,270 126,140 
			 Other education area (excluding sport area) and unspecified education area 73,680 64,620 62,350 57,780 63,530 62,340 
			 Sport education area 119,900 118,430 116,870 107,430 105,490 108,300 
			 Sport area (excluding education area) 103,000 106,810 99,130 90,140 89,540 99,810 
			 Public playground 22,060 22,320 27,310 24,230 24,630 26,770 
			 Parkland/cemetery/gardens 41,330 37,420 40,880 36,050 34,750 35,830 
			 Other location 575,990 503,190 507,490 476,510 446,540 423,590 
			  Note: Figures are estimates based on a sample of 18 hospitals across the UK, and have been rounded to the nearest 10 (so figures may not sum to total).   Source: Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System annual reports for 1997 to 2002 (published location categories have been aggregated and sample figures converted to national estimates).

Junior Doctors: Training

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many posts were available for junior doctors through the Medical Training Application System (MTAS) in round one; how many applicants for these posts there were; whether there were any new training posts in round two; and how many applicants per training post there were for those posts available through MTAS;
	(2)  when she will answer question 134104, tabled by the hon. Member for Yeovil on 24 April 2007, on the Medical Training Application Service.

Rosie Winterton: The number of posts available for the 2007 recruitment process is in the following table.
	
		
			  Posts on MTAS 
			   Run through  FTSTA  Academic  Total  Round one posts not on MTAS added after 19 April( 1)  Estimated GP posts filled outside MTAS  New run through programmes in Round 2  Estimated new FTSTAs and GP posts in Round 2( 1)  Overall total of training posts in 2007( 2) 
			 UK 14,595 4,392 185 19,172 108 3,450 215 302 23,247 
			 England 11,916 3,485 182 15,583 108 2,828 215 302 19,036 
		
	
	Across the UK 34,389 candidates submitted applications on Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) during the first recruitment round and made 127,948 applications. Of these 32,600(3) applicants made at least one eligible application and a total of 118,600(3) eligible applications are recorded on the MTAS system. Of the eligible applicants 29,600(3) were already working in training or non-training posts in the national health service.
	The MTAS data provide the number of applications per post not applicants per post. Based on the MTAS extract dated 19 April there were 6.2 applications per post.
	(1) Taken from a survey of English deaneries on 14 June. Figure only includes the posts in England and not those in the devolved administrations because the survey only covered English deaneries. We expect there to be additional new posts in the devolved administrations.
	(2) As set out in note 1, the United Kingdom total does not include the new Round 2 posts in the devolved administration.
	(3) This figure is an estimate derived by inference from the data provided by applicants on the MTAS system.

Mentally Ill: Cannabis

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. member for South Cambridgeshire, of 6 June 2007,  Official Report, column 583W, on mentally ill: cannabis, how many hospital admissions on mental health grounds resulting from the use of cannabis there were in each  (a) strategic health authority and  (b) primary care trust area in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Data showing the number of hospital admissions on mental health grounds resulting from the use of cannabis in each strategic health authority and primary care trust in each year since 1997 has been placed in the Library. The data show admissions by all consultant specialities, including admissions by consultants registered under mental illness specialities only.

Midwives

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student midwives she expects to qualify in 2007; and how many places she expects there to be in the NHS for newly qualified midwives.

Rosie Winterton: In 2004-05, the national health service commissioned 895 midwifery degree places. Those who successfully complete the training will qualify in 2007.
	Additional midwives will qualify through a variety of programmes, including an 18 month pre-registration education programmes, adaptation and return to practice programmes. These programmes are funded and arranged locally dependant on local needs and therefore the start and end dates vary.
	It is a joint responsibility between higher education institutions and local NHS organisations to see that midwifery and other health care graduates are supported to find employment. Vacancies for graduates continue to be posted on "NHS Jobs" and the NHS Careers information service can direct graduates to appropriate sources of information and advice. Graduates are encouraged to be flexible when applying for posts.
	In developing "Maternity Matters", which outlines the Governments vision for maternity services, the NHS workforce review team identified that the midwifery workforce would increase by 1,000 leading up to 2009.

NHS Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her estimate is of the increase in her Department's future public sector pension liability which will arise from salary increases under the  (a) Agenda of Change programme and  (b) the new GP contracts; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Government Actuary's Department (GAD) has valued the total future liabilities of the NHS Pension scheme as at 31 March 2006 to be £165.4 billion. GAD are in the process of preparing a detailed actuarial valuation of the scheme as at 31 March 2004 which will be published later this year which will include analysis of the factors leading to any change in valuation.

NHS: Finance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding the Government provided to meet the start-up and running costs of the  (a) Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence,  (b) Nursing and Midwifery Council and  (c) Health Professions Council in each year since its creation; and what proportion of the total budget this represented in each case.

Rosie Winterton: According to our records, the amount of funding that was provided to the Health Professions Council (HPC) for its establishment was £3,804,467.38 between 2002 and 2004. No funding has been paid to the HPC by the Department since April 2004, as the HPC is an autonomous organisation funded by registration fees and does not receive funding from the Department. Details of the HPCs budget are not held centrally, but are available from the HPC itself.
	According to our records, the amount of funding that was provided to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for its establishment was £3,656,382.81 between April 2002 and April 2004. No funding has been paid to the NMC by the Department since April 2004, as the NMC is an autonomous organisation funded by registration fees and does not receive funding from the Department. Details of the NMC's budget are not held centrally, but are available from the NMC itself.
	According to our records, the amount of funding that was provided to the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) starting in 2003 for its start-up costs and running costs so far is £8,790,315.47. This represents 100 per cent. of CHRE budget.
	Figures prior to April 2002 are currently unavailable without extensive research.

NHS: Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the employee contribution rate is to the NHS pension scheme; what plans there are to change this rate; what the revenue yield would be from varying the rate by one per cent; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The contribution rate for scheme members is 6 per cent. of pensionable pay, however members classed as manual workers pay 5 per cent. NHS employers and the national health service trade unions have proposed a new tiered contribution structure with the rate of employee contributions tiered by pensionable pay.
	The NHS pension scheme pensionable payroll as at 31 March 2006, taken from the resource accounts, was approximately £31 billion. Increasing the member contribution rate across the board by 1 per cent. of pensionable pay would yield just over £0.3 billion a year.

North East Strategic Health Authority: Finance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the surpluses generated in the north east strategic health authority (SHA) in 2006-07 will be retained in full in the SHA for use in future years.

Rosie Winterton: The surplus generated by the national health service at the end of 2006-07, will be carried forward for spending in future years.
	Individual organisations must work to manage the potential financial risks and the strategic health authorities (SHAs) have a key support role to play. The financial recovery in 2006-07 has put the NHS on a much firmer financial footing for 2007-08. Planning to generate surpluses, and holding reserves at SHA level, are a central part of the strategy to ensure that financial good health can be sustained in future years.

Research: Heart Diseases

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many academic research training posts are funded by the Government for  (a) coronary heart disease,  (b) cancer and  (c) stroke and stroke-related problems.

Rosie Winterton: The following academic research training posts are funded by the Department's research capacity development programme.
	
		
			   Number 
			  Academic Clinical Fellows( 1)  
			 Cancer 75 
			 Coronary Heart Disease (2)41 
			 Stroke (2)61 
			   
			  Clinical Lecturers( 3)  
			 Cancer 31 
			 Coronary Heart Disease 20 
			 Stroke 27 
			   
			  Personal Awards( 4)  
			 Cancer 16 
			 Coronary Heart Disease 8 
			 Stroke 5 
			 (1) Academic research training posts for junior doctors in training. (2) Some posts may be shared with other specialties. (3) Academic research training posts for junior doctors who have completed a PhD. (4) Academic research training posts for PhD's and post-doctoral awards. 
		
	
	The following academic research training posts are funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in partnership with the Department.
	
		
			   Number 
			  Clinical Senior Lectureships  
			 Cancer 5 
			 Coronary Heart Disease 4 
			 Stroke 4 
			   
			  Total number of posts  
			 Cancer 127 
			 Coronary Heart Disease 73 
			 Stroke 97 
		
	
	Other posts are funded through local use of Government funds. Details of these posts are not available.
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the United Kingdom Government support medical and clinical research.
	The MRC currently supports around 300 fellows and 100 capacity building and industrial collaborative students through its research career award schemes. The number of those currently supported in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular research are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Fellowship type  Cancer  Cardiovascular  Cerebrovascular 
			 Capacity Building Student 1 4 1 
			 Industrial Collaborative Student 1 — — 
			 Clinical Training Fellowship 21 5 4 
			 Special Training Fellowship in HSR 4 6 1 
			 Stem Cell Career Development Fellowship 1 0 1 
			 Career Development Award 3 1 2 
			 Clinician Scientist Fellowship 5 4 3 
			 Senior Non-Clinical Fellowship 1 1 1 
			 Senior Clinical Fellowship 3 1 0 
			 Total 40 22 13 
		
	
	The MRC also supports around 1,000 further students through doctoral training accounts to universities. The information that would be needed to classify those awards by reference to disease areas is not held centrally.

Ruth Hartley

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a unique identification number was accurately maintained for Dr. Ruth Hartley throughout each stage of the ST2007 recruitment process.

Rosie Winterton: The Medical Training Application Service allocates and maintains unique identification numbers for applicants and applications (final suffix letter). These are system generated and are not changed. Our supplier has confirmed that there is no evidence of any corruption to this date.

Smoking: Prisons

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what mechanisms exist to ensure that funding allocated by primary care trusts for nicotine replacement therapy within prison establishments is adequate; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the impact on demand for nicotine replacement therapy within prison establishments of the requirements of Prison Service Instruction 09/2007; what resources she has made available to meet this demand; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the demand for nicotine replacement therapy in areas designated as dormitories within the prison estate; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what assessment she has made of the availability of nicotine replacement therapy at  (a) each prison establishment and  (b) for those held in custody while attending courts; what resources are provided to support the demand for this treatment; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Since April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) have been responsible for ensuring that healthcare services in prison(s) in their locality are of an equivalent quality and range to that which the general public receives from the national health service. Provision is determined by local health needs assessment which, in partnership with the prison, should take into account the type of accommodation in which prisoners are held.
	Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is available via prison health services, in the same way that it is in the community, through a general practitioner. This would include those prisoners attending for court appearance from prison.
	For each of the financial years 2003-06, the Department provided an additional £500,000 funding to bring smoking cessation services in prisons in England, including NRT, in line with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines. Resources are now contained within baseline primary care trust funding.

Strokes

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the National Stroke Strategy to be published.

Rosie Winterton: The Government are currently developing a new national stroke strategy for England which aims to modernise services and deliver the newest treatments for stroke, and the aim is to publish it this winter, following a full public consultation.

Strokes: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts in London provide acute stroke services.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold this information centrally. However, the following hospitals took part in the 2006 sentinel audit of stroke services conducted by the Healthcare Commission.
	 NHS Trusts
	Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust (Oldchurch and Harold Wood hospitals in collaboration with Havering primary care trust)
	Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust (Barnet hospital), Barnet PCT and Finchley Memorial hospital
	Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust (Chase Farm hospital)
	Barts and the London NHS Trust jointly with Tower Hamlets PCT
	Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust
	Ealing Hospital NHS Trust
	Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (Epsom Hospital)
	Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (St. Helier Hospital)
	Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
	Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust
	Kingston Hospital NHS Trust
	Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust
	Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust
	Newham University Hospital NHS Trust
	North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust—Jointly with Haringey PCT
	North West London Hospitals NHS Trust (Central Middlesex Hospital including Willesden Community hospital (Brent PCT))
	North West London Hospitals NHS Trust (Northwick Park Hospital)
	Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust
	Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust
	Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
	St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust
	St. Mary's NHS Trust
	West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
	Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust
	Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
	NHS trusts in 2006, now foundation trusts:
	King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	Foundation trusts in 2006
	Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	Guy's and St. Thomas1 Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

United Health Group

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the contract between her Department and Chan Wheeler.

Ivan Lewis: A copy of Mr. Channing Wheeler's contract of employment will not be placed in the Library on grounds of confidentiality.

Afghanistan: Opium

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total cost was of the poppy eradication programmes undertaken in Afghanistan by the UK in each year since 2001.

Kim Howells: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave him on 2 November 2006,  Official Report, columns 657-658W, and I submit the following updated table that includes the 2006-07 figures.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Financial year  Total Afghan counter narcotics spend  Eradication 
			 2002-03 23 1 21.2 
			 2003-04 31.3 1.3 
			 2004-05 33.2 2.2 
			 2005-06 (1)92.3 5.7 
			 2006-07 82.0 2.9 
			 (1 )The published figure for 2005-06 was given as £92.8 million in the written answer on 2 November 1996. This was adjusted downwards in 2007, when full information on actual, as opposed to projected, spend became available.

Departments: Official Cars

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what make and model of car  (a) she and  (b) each Minister in her Department selected as their official ministerial car; and what criteria were used when making the decision in each case.

Margaret Beckett: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer given to him by my the Minister of State, Department for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) on 14 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 1268-69W.

Palestinians: Children

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she expects to write to the hon. Member for Thurrock about the visit to the UK by children from Palestine hosted by the charity Bethlehem Link; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, replied on 15 June.

Palestinians: Immigration

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on the operations of the  (a) EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories and  (b) EU Border Assistance Mission at Rafah crossing point in light of recent events in Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: At the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg on 18 June, EU Foreign Ministers agreed to support the Palestinian Civilian Police through the resumption of EU Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories and to resume the EU Border Assistance Mission Rafah. We support this.
	We have received reports on the safety of officials at the Rafah crossing point, They have now been safely evacuated to Jerusalem.

Carers' Allowances: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Leeds West  (a) receive and  (b) are entitled to carers' benefits.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of people in Leeds West parliamentary constituency in receipt of and entitled to carers' benefitsNovember 2006 
			   In receipt  Entitled 
			 Carer's allowance (CA) 660 1,080 
			 Income support with a carer premium 370 370 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Recipients of IS carer's premium may also be entitled to or receiving CA. 3. CA recipient totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended. 4. CA entitled totals show the number of people who are entitled to receive CA, including those who receive no actual payment.  Source: DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS 
		
	
	The vast majority of these entitled to but not receiving CA are pensioners and are likely to be receiving state pension and may receive the carer's premium in pension credit. Only one benefit at a time can be paid for the same purpose. While the circumstances that give rise to entitlement to CA and the state pension are different, both benefits are designed to provide a degree of replacement for lost or forgone income.

Child Support Agency: Manpower

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many staff were employed by the Child Support Agency in each quarter since January 1997; what the estimated numbers are for each quarter until 2012; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on plans to reduce Child Support Agency (CSA) staff numbers; and whether such plans will be affected by CSA performance against targets.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 21 June 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions regarding the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply form the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of Stat for Work and Pensions, how many staff were employed by the Child Support Agency in each quarter since January 1997; what the estimated numbers are for each quarter until 2012;
	and
	If he will make a statement on plans to reduce Child Support Agency (CSA) staff numbers; and whether such plans will be affected by CSA Performance against targets.
	Such information as is available is in the attached table. However, we cannot currently provide anticipated people numbers beyond March 2008 as staffing profiles have yet to be agreed across the Department.
	I have provided the average people employed for each financial year from 1997/98 through to 2000/01, as we no longer retain information on a quarterly basis for this period. The information provided is sourced from the Agency Annual Report and Accounts and is set out in the attached Table 1.
	The Agency is committed to meeting both the Departmentally agreed headcount target of 9547 by March 2008 and the Secretary of State performance targets for the coming year.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Financial year  Average number of people employed 
			 1997-98 8,445 
			 1998-99 8,156 
			 1999-2000 8,545 
			 2000-01 9,187 
			  Note: Quarterly information is not available for this period.  Source: Agency Annual Reports and Accounts. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Quarter ending  Number of full-time equivalent people 
			  2001  
			 June 10,071.14 
			 September 10,140.98 
			 December 10,425.26 
			   
			 2002  
			 March 10,690.59 
			 June 10,920.45 
			 September 11,166.36 
			 December 11,202.70 
			   
			 2003  
			 March 11,256.42 
			 June 10,987.77 
			 September 10,696.30 
			 December 10,527.76 
			   
			 2004  
			 March 10,819.02 
			 June 10,671.76 
			 September 10,076.78 
			 December 9,809.96 
			   
			 2005  
			 March 9,784.26 
			 June 9,827.08 
			 September 10,076.55 
			 December 10,648.83 
			   
			 2006  
			 March 11,034.25 
			 June 11,279.85 
			 September 11,416.45 
			 December 11,497.57 
			   
			  2007  
			 March 11,225.04 
			 June *10,982 
			 September *10,615 
			 December *10,238 
			   
			  2008  
			 March *9,547 
			  Notes: 1. Actualsfor June 2001 to March 2007. 2. Projectedfrom September 2007 to March 2008.

Child Support Agency: Stationery

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Child Support Agency spent on  (a) stationery,  (b) business cards and  (c) building signs in each year since 1997.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matte for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 21 June 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Child Support Agency spent on (a) stationery (b) business cards (c) building signsin each year since 1997.
	The Child Support Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (and prior to 8 June 2001 formed part of the Department of Social Security). The Agency uses the Departments accounting system to record and report expenditure.
	In response to your question:
	Stationerythe Department's accounting system combines spend on both printing and stationery. I am therefore unable to provide a breakdown of stationery only. The total costs for printing and stationery are included in the table below.
	Business Cardsthe Department for Work and Pensions accounting system does not enable us to provide an analysis of spending on these products. As such, the spend on business cards in included in the table.
	Building signsthe Department for Work and Pensions accounting system does not enable us to provide an analysis of spending on these products. As such, the information is not available in the requested format.
	The printing and stationery costs included in the table all cover posters, leaflets, letters, printing supplies, paper, pens etc. used by the Child Support agency in a given year. The costs for printing and stationery over the last six years as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  Printing and stationery ( million) 
			 2001-02 1.5 
			 2002-03 2.2 
			 2003-04 1.8 
			 2004-05 1.8 
			 2005/06 2.1 
			 2006-07 2.2 
			 Total 11.6 
		
	
	The Department retains records for six years in accordance with its statutory obligations, therefore information is not available on the earlier years.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Support Agency: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what training courses were attended by Child Support Agency staff in each of the last three years; and what the cost was of each course to his Department;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on departmental training, how much was spent on courses for staff in the Child Support Agency in  (a) stress awareness,  (b) self development,  (c) self awareness,  (d) creative thinking,  (e) curriculum vitae writing,  (f) running staff clubs,  (g) facilitation skills,  (h) non-verbal behaviour,  (i) intervention skills and  (j) being a change agent in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many staff attended these courses.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty dated, 21 June 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of state promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training courses were attended by Child Support Agency staff in the last three years; and what the cost was of each course to his Department.
	You also asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26(th) February 2007, Official Report, column 1064W, on departmental training how much was spent on courses for staff in the Child support Agency in  (a) stress awareness,  (b) self development,  (c) self awareness,  (d) creative thinking,  (e) curriculum vitae writing,  (f) running staff clubs,  (g) facilitation skills,  (h) non-verbal behaviour,  (i) intervention skills and  (j) being a change agent in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many staff attended these courses.
	The Agency's training programme is aimed at making Agency people experts in their specialist business areas in order to effectively deliver more money to more children and improve client service. The Agency offers a wide range of training programmes, including technical training, work towards professionally accredited qualifications, and personal effectiveness training, including some of the courses specified above.
	This training is delivered using a number of methods, including our own Learning Resource Centre, Departmental e-learning courses that are available to all our people from their work station and accessed via the Department's Intranet, and external facilitator led training. Varying degrees of information are available for the training offered by each of these sources. Unfortunately, I am therefore unable to provide full detail of all Agency training over the last three years.
	Such information as is available is set out in the attached tables.
	In relation to the specific training courses you have requested details for, the number of training courses provided via the Learning Resource Centre over the past 3 years is set out in Table 1. However, the information provided is restricted to the number of variable length sessions delivered in the years specified, as information on the number of people participating in the training and the cost to the Agency of these training courses is not available in the format requested.
	I am unable to price information for the number of Departmental e-learning courses undertaken by Agency people. There is no cost associated with accessing Departmental e-learning, beyond the time spent taking these courses and their initial development. The Department covered all the developmental costs of these courses and the direct cost to the Agency of each course is nil.
	The number of Agency people undertaking the Department's external facilitator led course and the cost of these course is set out in Table 2.
	Finally, Tables 3 and 4 set out the number of technical skills training courses attended by Agency people in the last three years. Training set out in Table 4 supports the implementation of the Agency's Operational Improvement Plan, which focuses on delivering more money to more children. Unfortunately, information the cost for each of these courses in not readily available.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of people who attended Learning Resource Centre training sessions during 2004-07 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Stress awareness 38 112 31 
			 Self development 236 322 128 
			 Creative thinking 11 13 8 
			 Curriculum vitae writing 58 6 0 
			 Facilitation skills 4 0 0 
			 Being a change agent 33 13 22 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Cost and quantity of DWP/External facilitator led training during 2004-07 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			  Course type  Number of people  Cost ()  Number of people  Cost ()  Number of people  Cost () 
			 Stress awareness 10 450 70 3,254 11 537 
			 Self development 69 8,023 101 8,087 9 3,853 
			 Curriculum vitae writing 58 2,252 6 450 0 0 
			 Facilitation skills 4 300 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of technical training course held during 2004-06 
			   Number of courses undertaken 
			  Course type  2004-05  2005-06 
			 New entrant-New system new rules 48 142 
			 New entrant-New system old rules 0 3 
			 New entrant old system old rules 7 18 
			 Existing staff-refresher training new rules 15 52 
			 Existing staff-refresher training old rules 16 13 
			 Business change CSRNew system new rules 395 168 
			 Business change CSRNew system old rules 0 8 
			 Total 481 396 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: Number of technical training courses held during 2006-07 
			  Course  t ype  Number of courses undertaken 2006-07 
			 New client 92 
			 Client service 125 
			 Debt enforcement 28 
			 Legal enforcement 22 
			 Team leader 117 
			 Other 94 
			 Total 478

Children: Maintenance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many deduction of earnings orders the Child Support Agency had in place in each month since January 2000; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 21 June 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many deduction of earnings orders the Child Support Agency had in place in each month since January 2000; and if he will make a statement.
	Such information as is available, is presented in the attached table.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Number of cases, which have a deduction from earnings order (DEO) or a deduction from earnings request (DER) in place from February 2000 to March 2007 
			  Month ending  Cases with DEO or DER as method of maintenance collection 
			 February 2000 138,400 
			 May 2000 141,700 
			 August 2000 142,000 
			 November 2000 141,300 
			 February 2001 141,100 
			 May 2001 140,100 
			 August 2001 140,100 
			 November 2001 138,500 
			 February 2002 140,000 
			 May 2002 138,600 
			 August 2002 138,400 
			 November 2002 139,000 
			 February 2003-July 2004 (1) 
			 August 2004 132,900 
			 September 2004 133,800 
			 October 2004 134,500 
			 November 2004 136,000 
			 December 2004 141,300 
			 January 2005 138,000 
			 February 2005 139,800 
			 March 2005 141,300 
			 April 2005 142,100 
			 May 2005 142,900 
			 June 2005 144,500 
			 July 2005 146,400 
			 August 2005 148,600 
			 September 2005 149,900 
			 October 2005 151,300 
			 November 2005 153,000 
			 December 2005 153,700 
			 January 2006 155,100 
			 February 2006 156,200 
			 March 2006 158,600 
			 April 2006 160,100 
			 May 2006 161,600 
			 June 2006 162,600 
			 July 2006 164,200 
			 August 2006 165,200 
			 September 2006 165,400 
			 October 2006 165,500 
			 November 2006 166,100 
			 December 2006 158,100 
			 January 2007 160,400 
			 February 2007 160,600 
			 March 2007 162,700 
			 (1) Robust information covering the period February 2003 to July 2004 is not available.  Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. The table includes deduction from earnings orders (DEOs) and deduction from earnings requests (DERs). DERs are the equivalent of DEOs when a non-resident parent is a member of the Armed Forces. 3. The table above includes those old-scheme cases with either a Full Maintenance Assessment or an Interim Maintenance Assessment; plus those new-scheme cases with either a Full Maintenance Calculation, or a Default Maintenance Decision. New-scheme cases being processed clerically are excluded from this analysis. 4. Data prior to March 2003 is only available quarterly. March 2007 is the most recent available. 5. The volume of deductions from earnings orders/requests (DEO/Rs) decreased to 158,000 in December 2006. This sudden fall was caused by a fix to the new computer system to suspend 8,500 ineffective DEOs on cases where employers had informed the Agency that the non-resident parent on that case was no longer in their employment. These DEOs have been suspended and the Agency put together a recovery plan to trace those non-resident parents and restore compliance, through DEOs where appropriate.

Community Care Grants: Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average Social Fund Community Care Grant award was in West Lancashire constituency in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.
	
		
			  Lancashire West social fund operating unit 
			  Community care grant initial awards 
			   Average award size () 
			 2005-06 359 
			 2006-07 371 
			  Notes: 1. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency but only by social fund operating unit. 2. West Lancashire parliamentary constituency is part of the social fund operating unit of Lancashire West. (This covered the same area as the Jobcentre Plus district of Lancashire West until 31 March 2006.) 3. Figures do not include awards made after review. 4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1.  Source: DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System

Incapacity Benefit: Disposable Income

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the median net disposable income of households receiving incapacity benefit was  (a) before and  (b) after housing costs were taken into account in the latest period for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: Latest available data show that the median net (disposable) weekly income of households receiving incapacity benefit is 302 before housing costs and 260 after housing costs.
	 Notes
	1. The source of the information provided is the Family Resources Survey (FRS), United Kingdom 2005-06. The Survey is a nationally representative sample of approximately 28,000 households.
	2. Data for 2005-06 was collected between April 2005 and March 2006.
	3. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government Office Region populations by age and gender. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
	4. Incapacity benefit receipt is under-reported on the FRS. However, there is no other reliable source for this information at a household level.
	5. Figures for the median net weekly income are rounded to the nearest pound.
	6. Net (disposable) weekly income includes income from all sources for all adults and children in the household, less income tax and national insurance contributions (for adults).
	7. Housing costs include household rent for rented accommodation or mortgage interest for those buying their home with a mortgage, plus water and sewerage charges (including council tax water charge in Scotland), plus premiums paid on structural insurance, plus charges for owner occupiers (ground rent, service charges etc.).

New Deal Schemes: Blackpool

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency received assistance from the new deal in each year since 1997.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  New deal in the Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency 
			   People starting  People gaining a job 
			 1998 250 130 
			 1999 400 290 
			 2000 370 300 
			 2001 390 310 
			 2002 470 350 
			 2003 420 360 
			 2004 550 340 
			 2005 580 320 
			 2006 600  
			  Notes:  1. Information consists of people starting and gaining a job through new deal for young people, new deal 25 plus, new deal for lone parents, new deal 50 plus and new deal for partners.  2. Information for starts to new deal 50 plus is only available from January 2004 and for those gaining a job through the programme from April 2003.  3. Information for new deal for partners for starts and jobs gained is only available from April 2004 by year at parliamentary constituency level.  4. Information on new deal for disabled people is not available at parliamentary constituency level.  5. Latest complete year data is for 2006 for people starting new deal and 2005 for people gaining a job.  6. Programme start dates are: new deal for young people: January 1998; new deal 25 plus: July 1998; new deal for lone parents: October 1998; new deal 50 plus: April 2000. new deal for partners: April 1999.  7. Data is rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  New Deal Evaluation Database, Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions.

New Deal Schemes: Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in West Lancashire constituency received assistance from the New Deal in each year since 1997.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  New Deal in the West Lancashire Constituency 
			   People starting  People gaining a job 
			 1998 400 170 
			 1999 440 360 
			 2000 460 440 
			 2001 490 350 
			 2002 520 400 
			 2003 640 440 
			 2004 580 390 
			 2005 650 340 
			 2006 660  
			  Notes: 1. Information consists of people starting and gaining a job through New Deal for Young People, New Deal 25 plus, New Deal for Lone Parents, New Deal 50 plus and New Deal for Partners. 2. Information for starts to New Deal 50 plus is only available from January 2004 and for those gaining a job through the programme from April 2003. 3. Information for New Deal for Partners for starts and jobs gained is only available from April 2004 by year at Parliamentary Constituency level. 4. Information on New Deal for Disabled People is not available at parliamentary constituency level. 5. Latest complete year data is for 2006 for people starting New Deal and 2005 for people gaining a job. 6. Programme start dates are: New Deal for Young People: January 1998; New Deal 25 plus: July 1998; New Deal for Lone Parents: October 1998; New Deal 50 plus: April 2000; New Deal for Disabled People: July 2001. 7. Data are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: New Deal Evaluation Database, Information Directorate Department for Work and Pensions.

Occupational Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2007, Official Report, columns 364-65W, on pensions, 
	(1)  how many employees benefiting from combined employer and employee contributions in excess of  (a) 3,000 and  (b) 5,000 belong to (i) private sector defined benefit or hybrid schemes that are open to new members, (ii) private sector defined benefit of hybrid schemes that are closed to new members and (iii) private sector defined contribution schemes;
	(2)  whether the recorded contribution levels exclude the value of contracted-out rebates; and how many employees in each contribution band were contracted out;
	(3)  how many employees benefiting from combined employer and employee contribution in excess of 5,000 work in  (a) the private sector and  (b) the public sector;
	(4)  if he will expand the table to show the number of employees with combined employer and employee contributions that are  (a) less than 1,000,  (b) 1,000 to 1,999,  (c) 2,000, to 2,999,  (d) 3,000 to 3,999,  (e) 4,000 to 4,999,  (f) 5,000 to 9,999 and  (g) 10,000 or more.

James Purnell: The table presented in the answer of 19 February 2007,  Official Report, columns 364-65W, showed information derived from a 2005 dataset. The analysis has been repeated using the latest available 2006 data and the results are presented in table 1.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of employees by level of combined employer and employee pension contributions: Great Britain, 2006 
			  Total contribution  Number of employees (million) 
			 Less than 5,000 7.9 
			 5,000 to 5,999 1.1 
			 6,000 to 7,499 1.2 
			 7,500 to 9,999 0.9 
			  Note:  The figures provided exclude the value of contracted-out rebates  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2006 
		
	
	The following tables present additional analyses, consistent with the results presented in table 1:
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of private sector employees by level of combined employer and employee pension contributions and type of scheme: Great Britain, 2006 
			   Number of private sector employees (million) 
			  Total contribution  Defined benefit  Defined contribution 
			 3,000 to 4,999 0.6 0.2 
			 5,000 or more 1.2 0.3 
			  Notes: 1. No information is available about scheme status. 2. No information about employment sector was available for a further 0.6 million members of defined benefit schemes and 30,000 members of defined contribution schemes  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2006 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of employees by level of combined employer and employee pension contributions and contracted out status: Great Britain 2006 
			  Total contribution  Number of employees contracted out (million) 
			 Less than 5,000 5.0 
			 5,000 to 5,999 1.0 
			 6,000 to 7,499 1.1 
			 7,500 to 9,999 0.8 
			  Note: Contributions exclude the value of contracted-out rebates.  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2006 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: Number of employees with combined employer and employee pension contributions in excess of 5,000 by employment sector: Great Britain 2006 
			   Number of employees with total contributions in excess of 5,000 (million) 
			 Private sector 1.8 
			 Public sector 2.0 
			  Note:  No information about employment sector was available for a further 0.4 million employees  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2006 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 5: Number of employees by level of combined employer and employee pension contributions: Great Britain, 2006 
			  Total contribution  Number of employees (million) 
			 Less than 1,000 1.4 
			 1,000 to 1,999 1.8 
			 2,000 to 2,999 1.8 
			 3,000 to 3,999 1.6 
			 4,000 to 4,999 1.3 
			 5,000 to 9,999 3.3 
			 10,000 or more 0.9 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Office for National Statistics). 2006 is the latest year for which the data are available. The coverage of the survey is Great Britain.  2. The answers only include employees aged 16 to state pension age. 3. Total pension contributions include both employee and employer contributions. 4. No information is available separately on hybrid schemes. 5. No information is available about scheme status (schemes that are open or closed to new members). 6. The answers in tables 3 to 5 cover: Occupational pension schemes (including defined benefit schemes and defined contribution schemes), group personal pension schemes, stakeholder pension schemes and those where the pension category was unknown. 7. The figures provided exclude the value of contracted-out rebates. 8. Individuals who are members of a pension scheme but where there is no information about employer or employee contributions have not been included.  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2006